Tara Murray
A little bit of belief is going a long way for St Albans in the Essendon District Football League division 1 competition.
After winning their first senior final in 14 years in the first week of finals, the Saints made it two in the space of eight days.
Facing Hillside, which ended their finals campaign last year, the Saints got off to the perfect start.
Seven goals to none in the first quarter set the tone for the Saints.
The Sharks came at them a number of times, but every time the Saints had the answers.
When they kicked a couple of early goals in the last quarter, the Saints knew they were on their way to a preliminary final.
They would win 18.9 (117)-9.11 (65).
Saints coach Zammy Muhtari was absolutely ecstatic following the result.
He said he couldn’t believe the result.
“I gave the boys a plan and I just asked them to execute it,” he said. “I know our footy is good enough.
“So they’ll be able to do that today [Sunday], which is fantastic.”
Muhtari said the first quarter was both sides getting a feel of the conditions before his side started to get on top.
They were then able to capitalise on their ball movement.
“We knew that we would try and get as much lead as possible,” he said. “You just don’t know, sometimes the wind can change, who knows.
“So after last week [when the game was halted due to lightning] anything’s possible.”
The Sharks started to make inroads with the breeze in the second quarter before a couple of late goals turned the game back in the Saints favour.
Muhtari said they knew you could score at the clubrooms end from watching other games.
The margin grew to 39 points at the last break, but with the wind the Sharks still had a sniff.
That didn’t last long with the Saints doing enough before the game sizzled out.
Josh Carter kicked five second half goals for the Saints. Alex Tsia, who was a late inclusion and kicked three goals.
“We brought him in to give us a spark around,” Muhtari said of Tsia. “I always tell the boys inside 50 to play with a bit of flare, we stayed hunting in numbers and when your opportunity is there we need to convert which we did well this week.
“Josh, he means so much to me and the boys. His moment was going to come and it was a matter of when it was going to come.”
At the other end Brandon Coletta was outstanding, while Jayden Kretiuk restricted Josh Covelli to just two goals for the second time this season.
The Saints now face West Coburg in a preliminary final on Saturday at Greenvale Recreation Reserve.
Muhtari said they’re looking forward to the opportunity.
He said they were hoping to get Jackson Volpato back while there’s a couple of guys in the reserves they’d look at.
