Williamstown and Coburg met in a critical clash at Burbank Oval in Round 13 of the VFL action on Sunday. Williamstown made 3 changes to the side that defeated Werribee by 54 points. Into the side came Jarrad Boumann and John Shaw who made his senior debut and Sean Tighe came into the side as the 23rd player from the Western Jets. Out of the side went Tom Williams who was promoted to the Western Bulldogs, Jordan Roughead missed through injury and Malcolm Lynch was dropped to the Reserves. Coburg welcomed back Nathan Brown from injury and Jarrod Silvester was dropped back from Richmond.


First Quarter
Williamstown began the game in blistering form with Captain Brett Johnson kicking the opening goal and was quickly followed by goals to Guy O'Keefe, Patrick Rose and Jarrad Grant. Tim Callan, Stephen Tiller, Dylan Addison and Andrejs Everitt were winning plenty of the ball and Ben Jolley and Xavier Gotch were great in the midfield. Coburg replied with goals to Nathan Brown, Nick Liddle and Cleve Hughes to keep themselves in the game. Williamstown responded with a late flurry of goals to Brett Johnson, Wayde Skipper, Easton Wood, Patrick Rose and Jason Cloke to finish with a 9 goal quarter and a 38 point lead at the break.

Williamstown 9.2         Coburg 3.0


Second Quarter
Coburg now had use of the breeze and they kicked early goals to Tim Clarke and Captain Nick Carnell to reduce the lead. Williamstown ruckman Wayde Skipper and Jonh Shaw were playing well and the game was shut down with Seagulls defending grimly. Guy O’Keefe kicked a goal and then Mathew Little kicked a great long goal before Nathan Brown and Cleve Hughes kicked to reduce the lead to 23 points by the main break. Williamstown’s defence led by Callan, Addison, Cam Wight and Jarrad Boumann were resolute during this term and it was a handy lead at half time.

Williamstown 11.3            Coburg 7.4


Third Quarter
Coburg began the third quarter by dominating out of the centre and on the stoppages through Mark Coughlan, Tim Clarke, Nathan Brown and Nat Caruso. Coburg’s tall forwards Cleve Hughes and Adam Pattison both kicked multiple goals and a strong tackle from Nick Carnell resulted in another goal. Williamstown responded with late goals to David Stretton and 2 from Patrick Rose to regain the lead.

Williamstown 14.5       Coburg 12.6


Fourth Quarter
Coburg quickly stamped their authority on the game by kicking the opening two goals in 3 minutes to Adam Thompson and Jordan McMahon to lead by a point. Joel Bowden and Andrew Raines were dominating down back and Coburg threatened to break the game open. Goals to Cleve Hughes and a great long running goal to Joel Bowden saw the Tigers lead by 2 goals. Williamstown refused to go down and goals to Guy O’Keefe and Brett Johnson kept the Seagulls in the game. Coburg continued to surge forward but could not deliver the knock out blow even though Ben Clifton again extended the lead. Brennan Stack kicked a great running goal to keep the Seagulls close but a chain of handballs resulted in Andrew Browne goaling and a 9 point lead late into the quarter. With only 2 minutes left, a passage of play saw John Shaw mark and goal from 35 metres to reduce the lead to 3 points. The final minute was frantic and a cool head by Jason Cloke saw him win possession and evade his Coburg opponent and deliver a pin point pass to Jarrad Grant 45 metres out as the siren sounded. As players from both sides surrounded Jarrad Grant he went back and kicked a great long goal to win the game and become the Seagulls hero.

Williamstown 19.5 (119)         Coburg 18.8 (116)

Goals: Rose 4, O’Keefe 3, Johnson 3, Grant 2, Wood 1, Cloke 1, Shaw 1, Little 1, Skipper 1, Stack 1, Stretton 1

Best: Johnson, Callan, O’Keefe, Jolley, Rose, Gotch


Reserve's wrap
Williamstown Reserves recorded their 12th straight victory with an excellent 82 point victory over Coburg. Williamstown played a great brand of football from an aggressive and spirited opponent. Captain Tom Langlands played an inspirational game and was well supported by Chris Egan, Dane Rampe, Luke Cartelli, Nick Georgiadis and Jamason Daniels. Dean Galea provided an excellent target with his strong marking, and kicking 6 goals and was well supported by Liam Jones. Ruckman Jordan Florance played well and first timers Nathan Uren, Fin Addison and Richard Knight all contributed.

Williamstown   4.2   11.5    14.10   21.14    (140)
Coburg             4.4   5.6      6.7       8.10      (58)

Goals: Galea 6, Egan 3, Cartelli 2, Georgiadis 2, Rampe 1, Florance 1, Daniels 1, Jones 1, Lynch 1, Uren 1, Grossman 1

Best: Langlands, Rampe, Galea, Cartelli, Georgiadis, Egan

What’s on next week...
Next week Williamstown host Box Hill on Sunday 19th July at Burbank Oval. Williamstown have a 10 - 2 win loss ratio with Box Hill a 7 - 5 record and they are fresh from a stunning victory over reigning premiers North Ballarat.
In the Reserves it is the top two teams clashing and a repeat of the 2008 Grand Final.
 
Seniors              Williamstown Vs Box Hill                          2:00pm
Reserves           Williamstown Vs Box Hill                         11:10am
 
At the President's Luncheon the Club has Lindsay Fox as Guest Speaker and on the day the Club will be celebrating the 40 year anniversary of our Club's Premiership victories at Seniors, Reserves and Thirds Level.