Williamstown defeat dampens Clifton’s 100th

 1/4 TIME1/2 TIME3/4 TIMEFULL TIME
Williamstown3.3.217.10.5611.16.8216.20.116
Coburg2.1.132.4.162.6.186.8.44 

Best: Hartley, Featherstone, Lehmann, Uysal, Goodwin, Clifton
Goals: Featherstone 2, Hill, Clifton, Orr, Carnell
The Lions were held goalless for two quarters in Ben Clifton’s 100th senior VFL game, eventually going down to Williamstown by 72 points at Burbank Oval on Sunday afternoon.
The Lions got off to a perfect start through Dion Hill, who led well and converted his set shot. The man of the moment – Ben Clifton – then chimed in with a terrific goal on the run. Williamstown, however, was able to respond due to a drop off in the quality of Coburg’s inside 50 entries and excessive handballing through the middle of ground – which saw the Lions turn the ball over.
Williamstown began to dominate possession in the second term and locked the ball in it’s forward half.
This pressure forced decision-making errors from the Lions and the Seagulls drew further ahead. Williamstown’s fast movement and inside 50 entries hurt Coburg but neither team could produce a goal for the majority of the term before Williamstown broke free and booted two late goals.
On a day where Coburg struggled to create goal scoring opportunities, Lech Featherstone and Danny Younan worked hard and presented but were inaccurate in their conversion. Michael Hartley spoiled well down back and Josh Cauchi again used his pace and was one of the best deliverers of the ball inside 50 for the Lions.

WILLIAMSTOWNSTATSCOBURG 
392Disposals297
181Contested Possessions107
93Marks83
68Inside 50s47
54Clearances34
15Turnovers25


Nathan Thomas (21 disposals), Errol McConnell (20) and Jordy Williams (19) ran hard all day.
Nick Robortella found the ball across half back in his return to senior VFL football, as did Cale Morton, while Ozgur Uysal was again among Coburg’s major inside ball winners.. Uysal also had nine clearances and kick-started an improvement in Coburg’s stoppage work in the last term.
The Lions began to generate more effective clearances and were rewarded when Featherstone broke through with his first of the afternoon to start a mini-fun for Coburg.
Mark Orr kicked his first goal for the club and was followed by a typically hard-earned goal from Nick Carnell. Featherstone then booted with his second but Williamstown responded to maintain their lead and control the game.
The Lions now look to Collingwood next week, who they will face at Piranha Park next Saturday at 2:00pm.