Williamstown have been denied their second consecutive grand final berth with reigning premiers Port Melbourne taking the honours, defeating the Seagulls by 34 points in Saturday’s Preliminary Final.
Missed opportunities and costly turnovers hurt a young Williamstown lineup, who failed to produce a goal in the final term.
Coming off eight straight wins, including a victory against The Borough in Round 18, Williamstown entered the game one of the in-form sides of the competition.
View the match photo gallery at westernbulldogs.com.au
Despite their hot streak, the Seagulls faced an arduous task playing Port Melbourne at North Port Oval where the home side hasn’t lost in their past 21 attempts.
Their pursuit was made even harder when Port Melbourne kicked the first two goals of the game, ensuring the Seagulls were always playing catch up.
Williamstown did settle however and goals from Fletcher Roberts and a long 60 metre goal from vice-captain Brett Goodes meant the Seagulls were only 13 points down at the first change.
Williamstown began to swing the momentum their way in the second quarter, kicking the opening two goals of the term through Fletcher Roberts and Kwame McHarg.
Missed set shots prevented Williamstown from taking the lead and a couple of costly turnovers in the defensive half gifted Port Melbourne the last two goals of the quarter, as they took a 12 point margin into half time.
The third quarter was a tough arm wrestle with neither team able to kick consecutive goals.
The midfield battle between Wall, Goodes and Jolley against Skipper, Baird and Pinwill was as tough as any seen all year, with bodies being thrown at the ball time and time again.
Fletcher Roberts was proving a handful up forward, kicking his third goal of the match while Dylan Conway took a great contested mark in the goal square to help the scoreboard ticking over.
Williamstown had the chance to bring the margin back to five points, but the shot faded right and the ball was quickly up the other end where a free kick was paid right in the shadows of the three quarter time.
Port Melbourne converted the set shot and the margin was 16 points at the last change.
With a Grand Final spot up for grabs the final stanza was set to be frantic with the pressure of the game lifting from both sides.
A good piece of play from Kwame McHarg saw the ball end up in the hands of Andrew Hooper, who's set shot just hit the inside of the goal post denying the Seagulls the opportunity to close the margin.
Port Melbourne were able to control the tempo of the game from here on with two late goals sealing the Seagulls fate.
It was a gutsy effort from the young Williamstown side who defied all odds to come from outside the top eight to feature in a Preliminary Final.
Young Bulldog talls Michael Talia and Fletcher Roberts were impressive at either end, while the midfield brigade of James Wall, Ed Carr, Ben Jolley and Brett Goodes worked tirelessly all day.
Port Melbourne 4.3 7.5 10.8 12.15 (87)
Williamstown 2.2 5.5 7.10 7.11 (53)
GOALS: Roberts 3 McHarg Goodes Conway McCallum
BEST: Frost McCallum Talia Jolley Goodes Roberts
