Altona will be glad to see the back of Powerhouse for the remainder of the season, after the team from St. Kilda beat the boys in blue and gold for the second time in seven days.
Altona started the brighter of the two teams, and when Chris Porter jinked through the Powerhouse defence and slipped the ball to Matthew Guest in the circle, the first goal of the game looked imminent. Guest’s shot, however, struck a covering defender on the body on its way over the line and a penalty stroke was awarded. Victoria under 21 representative Andrew ‘Goldy’ Scanlon stepped up and slung the ball into the inside right netting to give Altona a deserved lead.
That was to be the end of Altona’s dominance for the next 20 minutes, during a spell in which Powerhouse hauled themselves into a 4-1 lead, although the equaliser was a case of more by luck than judgement from the Powerhouse forward. A speculative ball heading across the face of the goal was inadvertently turned into the Altona net by Jake Macvean on his 100th Premier League appearance. This good fortune seemed to spark Powerhouse into life, and their attacking play resulted in two penalty corners in as many minutes. Corner specialist, Adam Seccull, fired home goals from both of the corners, putting the St. Kilda-based outfit 3-1 in front.
Altona seemed to work harder after going behind, gaining more possession of the ball in the opposition half as a result, but it wasn’t long before Powerhouse were back in the Altona defensive quarter wreaking havoc. A hopeful ball into the circle was not cleared fully, and a waiting forward snatched the opportunity to put his team 4-1 up.
Altona once again put Powerhouse under pressure after conceding, but this time with better outcomes, and when Chris Coleman flicked a ball high into the Powerhouse net from a corner, the Seagulls started to believe the comeback may have been on. More persistence, chasing and haranguing of defenders, led by the hard-working Cale Rout, reaped its rewards when Chris Porter had an effort illegally stopped on the line by a defender, and the As were awarded their second stroke of the game. Goldy duly did the honours and clawed Altona back to within a goal of their rivals. A rip-roaring first half came to a close with Powerhouse 4-3 up.
The second half was scintillating, and the end-to-end style of play had the sizeable crowd on the edges of their seats for its entirety. It was Powerhouse who drew first blood, when midway through the half Altona were pressing them into their back left corner. A pinpoint overhead to clear the danger picked out a free striker on the halfway line, and Altona suddenly looked exposed. The forward had a one-on-one with the only covering defender, but used his pace to beat the man and his accurate tomahawk rocketed into the bottom corner of the net.
The As seemed despondent, but continued battling. Steve Campbell led the troops admirably in midfield, while Kieran Symons covered a lot of ground in centre half, and with the back line zipping the ball confidently around the back, the foundations were laid for Altona to build an attack. A cross field pass picked out the impressive Pat Phillips, who proceeded to leave his man for dead and smash a tomahawk of his own into the far bottom corner. The A’s continued to press for a fifth goal to claim a deserving point, but it eluded them and the game finished at 5-4.
An improvement on last week’s result but a third disappointing result in as many games, Altona will be keen to get back to winning ways when Doncaster make the trip west on June 14th.
Altona 4 beaten by Powerhouse/St.Kilda 5
Goals: Andrew Scanlon (2), Chris Coleman, Pat Phillips