From the Sunday Age
Reported by Brent Diamond
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WILLIAMSTOWN showed plenty of character to shred Port Melbourne's record of 21 undefeated matches on its home turf with a 42-point win at TEAC Oval yesterday.
And while Collingwood was triumphant over Geelong by 38 points, North Ballarat came from behind against Sandringham to win by 26 points and remain in pole position heading into next week's finals.
Williamstown consolidated second position, with skipper Brett Johnson leading from the front to cement his favouritism for the JJ Liston Trophy.
But the two teams - second and third - are destined to face each other next week in a qualifying final, and Port will be desperate to bounce back after its 16.12 (108) to 9.12 (66) loss.
Seagulls coach Brad Gotch said the breakthrough result was based on a winning belief.
''I've always worked on this theory in life - there's a challenge where you've got to step through and take it, and we really worked hard for that today,'' Gotch said.
''We thought we could do it and you've got to have that belief that you can do it.
''If you're going to win the big ones, you've got to be able to do those things, and they were going to lose at some stage.''
But he admitted the team will be judged purely on its performance in September, given its lack of success in recent seasons.
''That's fair. We accept that,'' he said.
''Hopefully the boys, after today, understand that it was a big game and it was a hard game to play in, but next week's a new week now.
''We've got to refocus and have that burning desire in our stomach that we want to actually be successful this year.''
The game was clinically won in the second half after Port stormed to a handy seven-point lead at the first change.
Patrick Rose was important in the first term with two majors, despite unrelenting run and supply from Port's Nathan Batsanis, Bo Nixon and Toby Pinwill.
The Borough's tall forward line failed to click on a wet day, giving the Seagulls defenders such as Ben Jolley and Jarrad Boumann the opportunity to continuously rebound.
The Seagulls took a one-goal lead into the main break through sheer resilience in the midfield, led by Johnson and former Calder Cannon Dylan Joyce, who has proved he is more than worthy of a look at for recruiters over the off-season.
Joyce, a fringe player for the Seagulls, became a lethal weapon in the on-ball set-up and snared two goals.
''It was interesting because we tossed up between him and [Malcolm] Lynch and a few other guys for that final spot,'' Gotch said.
