A tenacious Northern Blues have lost their fourth consecutive game and their hopes of a finals appearance dashed, following a 40-point defeat to Williamstown in a fiery contest at Burbank Oval on Sunday.
The Blues trailed by just two points at three-quarter time, yet a scoreless last quarter against a violent breeze lead to the 14. 18 (102) to 9. 8 (62) loss.
The result sees the Blues sit a game and a half outside the top eight with just two games remaining in the season, all but quashing their chances of a 2014 finals berth.
Familiar faces lined up against one another from the start of the contest, with former Blues Kane Lambert, Adam Marcon and Nick Meese all thrust into the centre for the opening bounce.
Tempers flared as both sides relentlessly launched themselves at the loose ball, with fracas’ erupting across the ground in a heated first quarter.
True to form captain Brent Bransgrove was the first to place his body in the firing line, landing nine tackles for the afternoon and a bandage across his head inside the opening three minutes for his troubles.
Speaking post-match, swingman Jack Anthony touched on the ‘healthy’ rivalry between the two clubs.
“You can see the passion from players like Brent Bransgrove,” Anthony said.
“It was good, it’s healthy.
“Obviously they’re all still mates, but when you’re out on there on the field they’re your enemy.”
Northern ended the first quarter with a 22-point buffer over their opponents, however it was Williamstown that capitalised on the breeze with greater effect by kicking seven goals to one in the second term.
The Blues fought hard to remain within striking distance until midway through the final quarter with the help of a stringent defence lead by Anthony and Ciaran Byrne.
Anthony said that despite the late flurry of Seagulls goals there were plenty of positives to take from the game.
“We really took our foot off the pedal right at the end,” Anthony said. “For three and a half quarters we were cracking in and having a dip but unfortunately it got away from us with a couple of late goals.
“Williamstown are a good outfit. They’re a really fit and well-drilled team.”
On-baller Sam Cattapan earned best-on-ground honours for the Blues, finishing the game with 33 disposals, six clearances, six tackles and a goal.
Patrick Cripps was tagged and kept to 15 disposals and two goals by Williamstown draft combine invitee Jack Johnstone while Northern’s Nick Holman was sent to mind Adam Marcon.
Ben Casley was the major scoreboard contributor for the afternoon with four goals, benefiting from the Seagull’s 12-4 advantage in forward 50 marks.
The Seagulls sit third on the ladder after registering 12wins from their last 14 matches following two losses in their opening two games of the season.
Next week, the Blues face top-placed Port Melbourne at Preston City Oval in their final home game for 2014.
WILLIAMSTOWN 1.1 8.8 9.10 14.18 (102)
NORTHERN BLUES 4.5 5.6 9.8 9.8 (62)
GOALS
WILLIAMSTOWN: Casley 4, Woods 2, Masters, Tighe, Lambert, Hetherington, Jolley, Clouston, Wheeler, Marcon
NORTHERN: Cripps 2, Johnson 2, Totevski, Byrne, Bolger, Cattapan, Garlett
BEST
WILLIAMSTOWN: Wheeler, Marcon, Woods, Casley, McCallum, Lambert
NORTHERN: Cattapan, Anthony, Holman, Byrne, Bransgrove, Watson
