EFL 2019: Leigh Williams inspires Norwood to six-point win over Blackburn
Norwood champion Leigh Williams put in a vintage display with a bag of eight goals to inspire the Norsemen to a six-point win over Blackburn.
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Norwood started the Eastern Football League season without a win against a top-five side in 18 months.
It now has two victories in four games over finals rivals after seeing off a fast-finishing Blackburn by six points at Mullum Mullum Reserve on Saturday.
It appeared the Burners would overrun a tiring Norsemen outfit when they kicked three unanswered goals midway through the last quarter.
Brett Eddy kicked 10 goals last week and another star @footyefl forward is on track for a big haul. Leigh Williams‘ fifth gives Norwood a four-point lead early in the third term over @Blackburn_FC.
— Toby Prime (@T_Prime2) June 1, 2019
Injuries to defenders Tristan Tweedie (knee) and Matt Aver (ankle) reduced Norwood to two on the bench for the second half, but it grinded out a 16.6 (102) to 14.12 (96) win in front of a vocal home crowd.
Champion forward Leigh Williams was the star in the victory with a bag of eight goals. He finished with 8.0.
The pick of them came during the second quarter when he worked his way out of traffic to snap truly on his left boot from 40m out.
At the other end, young defender Daniel Potts played the best game of his career in his 11th senior appearance.
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Potts was credited with eight contested marks in the second half, intercepting many of Blackburn’s thrusts into attack.
It was unsurprising to see the pair listed as Norwood’s best two players.
The Norsemen started the year 1-3 but have reached the mid-season bye 4-4 and are in the mix for a return to Premier Division finals for the first time since the 2015 grand final.
The result followed the Round 5 win over Rowville when they scored their first win over a top-five side since Round 13, 2017.
“We’re certainly building at the moment … there are nine to 12 guys every week that we’re playing that are 23 and under,” coach Marty Pask said.
“The good thing is we’ve been able to beat two good, quality opponents that are well and truly established in the top five.
“We have a huge amount of respect for Blackburn, they’re very well coached, they’re very well set up so for us to have the ability to match it with them and then find something, it was just a really spirited, gutsy performance.”
The contest proved to be one of the great games in the top tier in 2019.
Seldom did the margin stretch beyond two goals until Williams kicked three majors in a run of five Norwood goals either side of three-quarter time to stretch its advantage to 27 points.
There were five lead changes in the third quarter as both sides traded blows.
But Norwood responded to Blackburn’s late push for victory, shutting the game down with repeat stoppages in the final minutes.
“For the boys to be able to find another level and to really grind out a win — I think we had something like 30 tackles in that fourth term — I’m just super proud of them,” Pask said.
“They’re the wins and they’re the reasons you’re involved in footy.
“Blackburn is such a quality side. Where they are now is obviously where we as a footy club want to get to so it was a fantastic challenge for us to grind it out and find something.”
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