Werribee AMES defeated a combined Footscray/St Albans side yesterday at Whitten Oval in the 3rd annual Inter-AMES Football Carnival, kicking 4.2 (28) to 3.4 (22).

Werribee kicked ahead in the first half, using the strong wind to their advantage, posting 4 majors in to nil.   Footscray/St Albans, despite playing with four members of the Victorian Police Football Team failed to answer’s Werribee’s tenacity and teamwork. 

However, with the wind playing a large factor and history proving that the Inter-AMES carnivals are always closely contested (the two previous matches were decided by one point), Footscray/St Albans was always a chance to steal the win in the second half. 

Footscray/St Albans couldn’t kick accurately though, scoring 3.4 in the second half and two behinds against the wind was enough to seal the win for Werribee. 
St Albans AMES student and midfielder Deni Kurtanovic was judged best on ground for the day despite playing in the losing team.

In a new initiative for the Inter-AMES Football Carnival, 20 players were selected from yesterday’s match to represent AMES and newly arrived communities to play in a football match against an Indigenous youth team from the western suburbs.  The match between the AMES All-Star and the Indigenous youth team will be played as the curtain raiser to the annual Victoria Police vs the Gathering Place’s Indigenous football team on Sunday 4th July as part of NAIDOC Week Celebrations.  The match will commence at 11:30am at Whitten Oval.

The Inter-AMES carnival is held as part of Refugee Week celebrations at the Western Bulldogs and highlights the club’s commitment to working with migrant and refugee communities in the west.  Over the past five weeks, students from the three AMES centres have been receiving coaching from Western Bulldogs community team to prepare for the match as well as receiving support from the club’s Cheer Squad to make a banner for the match.