Southport Snaps Werribee's Eleven Game Win Streak
05 August 2024
Southport snapped Werribee's eleven game winning streak with a thrilling victory at Avalon Airport Oval in their second encounter of the season.
In a seesawing contest, Werribee rallied from a 17 point deficit late in the third quarter but could not hold on as the Sharks ran out six point winners.
Aidan Johnson brought Werribee within a point late in the final term with a superb crumbing goal—his third major of the day. However, former Tiger Wylie Buzza sealed the game for Southport with a long-range set shot, leading to a 8.13 (61) to 8.7 (55) win.
Despite the loss, Jimmy Allan's men remain at the top of the ladder (14-3), with just one game remaining against Box Hill.
Werribee's defensive duo of Sam Azzi (10 disposals, 16 spoils) and Stefan Radovanovic (12 disposals, six intercepts) were outstanding in the absence of Nathan Cooper and Nick Coughlan, restricting Southport’s key forwards Hugh Dixon and Wylie Buzza to just two goals between them.
Aidan Johnson carried on his hot form to make it 11 goals in five games since his return from his bicep injury, taking seven marks amongst his 13 disposals and three majors.
Dom Brew once again led the way in the midfield, gathering a game-high 34 disposals, which included 24 contested possessions and nine clearances. Brew was not surprisingly the game’s leading tackler adding another 10 to his season tally.
Kobe Annand opened the scoring playing the role of rover, crumbing the pack and kicking a snapping goal for his first goal in open play of his VFL career. Southport’s inaccuracy in front of goal kept Werribee within striking distance, as the Tigers trailed by just two points at quarter-time despite having only two scoring shots to nine.
Jay Lockhart finally broke through for Southport's first goal five minutes into the second quarter, followed by Wylie Buzza’s first goal of the day, which extended Southport's lead to 14 points midway through the term. Aidan Johnson stopped the bleeding with a well-taken set shot reducing the deficit to six points at halftime.
Stand-in captain Dom Brew had a massive 19 disposals, with 15 contested at the main break, while defenders Louis Pinnuck (14 disposals and four marks) and Riley Bice (12 disposals) were offering plenty of dash off half-back.
In similar fashion to the second quarter, Southport came out of the break with the first two goals of the third term before Aidan Johnson answered back with a long range set shot goal. Hudson Garoni, who leads the competition in third quarter goals, then stood up to kick two in the space of four minutes, giving Werribee their first lead since the opening term. This took Garoni to 42 goals putting him equal top of the ‘Frosty’ Miller Medal with one match to play.
With scores even going into the last quarter, Riley Bice showed his class with a running goal breaking inside 50 to give Werribee a six point buffer early into the term.
The Sharks fought back with three goals in as many minutes to take a 13-point lead into time-on of the last term. The top of the table Tigers surged home, with Zac Banch and Aidan Johnson both finding the big sticks to reduce the lead to just one point, however Wylie Buzza kicked the sealer to see Werribee’s comeback fall six points short.
FINAL SCORE:
Werribee: 1.1 2.5 5.6 8.7 (55)
Southport: 0.9 2.11 4.12 8.13 (61)
GOALS:
Werribee: A. Johnson (3), H. Garoni (2), K. Annand, Z. Banch, R. Bice
Southport: J. Heron (3), W. Buzza (2), J. Edwards, J. Lockhart, M. Shannon
BEST:
Werribee: S. Azzi, A. Johnson, S. Radovanovic, D. Brew, R. Bice, J. Henderson
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