Greensborough stormed into the second week of the Meadows Greyhounds Division 1 finals with a runaway 31-point win over West Preston-Lakeside in the elimination final.
The Boro overcame a slow start to score a 9.8 (62) to 3.13 (31) triumph at Preston City Oval to set up a first semi final clash with Bundoora.
The win continued Greensborough’s outstanding revival in 2017. After starting the season 0-5, the Boro are one of only four sides left standing in the premiership race.
It was a defensively sound performance in the elimination final, with Dan McLinden and Jack Johnston putting in dominant displays to allow their side to overcome West Preston-Lakeside for the first time this year.
Michael Croxford and John Desmond also excelled in the back half, while Tristan Stead and Lachlan McQuilken (two goals) led from the front to get their young side across the line.
It was a brave performance from the men in green and white, who were restricted to just one fit player on the interchange bench in the second half, after Nick Riddle, Ricky Mullins and Josh Callaway all picked up injuries during a bruising encounter.
Riddle had kept competition leading goal kicker Ahmed Saad relatively quiet in the first half, before succumbing to injury. The job on Saad was left to Desmond in the second half.
The loss brought a premature end to West Preston-Lakeside’s season as they failed to make the most of their opportunities in their first finals appearance since 2012.
The Roosters kicked the only two goals of the opening quarter to take a 12-point lead into quarter time, but then managed just one more major for the day.
It wasn’t necessarily a lack of opportunities which denied the Roosters from kicking a winning score. They kicked 1.8 in the second half, which included a host of misses from gettable shots at goal.
Jackson Clarke produced a standout performance across half back and was his side’s best player in defeat, while Andrew Walker and Carl Adams also fought hard against the tide.
Trailing by 13 points early in the second term, Greensborough broke the game open in a six-minute burst midway through the quarter.
Four goals in quick succession to Matthew Haynes, McQuilken, Mullins and Billy Bedford gave the Boro a 12-point advantage and from there they never looked back.
Mitch Hill made it five goals in a row when he converted early in the third quarter, before Saad ended his side’s goal drought when he kicked his second major from a downfield free kick to cut the margin back to 10 points.
It proved to be West Preston-Lakeside’s only major for the second half and did little to break Greensborough’s momentum.
McQuilken replied with his second soon after, before Haynes added another just before time-on to allow the Boro to take 20-point advantage into the last break.
Mitch Merkel returned from a yellow card and had a big impact in the last quarter. He took a number of telling marks around the ground and kicked the opening goal of the final term from deep in the forward pocket to seal the win.
Josh Grubb put the icing on the cake when he ran into an open goal late in the day as his side set up a blockbuster clash with Bundoora in the first semi final.
Final score: West Preston-Lakeside 3.13 (31) def by Greensborough 9.8 (62)
