Greensborough have made a massive statement to the rest of the Melbourne Greyhounds Division 1 competition on Good Friday, comfortably taking care of Macleod by 107-points.
Whilst many expected this to be a closer duel with both these rivals came into the match following losses in Round 2, the Borough dominated from the first bounce and sent a message to the rest of the side in a 22.12 (144) to 5.7 (37) drubbing.
The home side had nine different goal scorers on the day and were led by recruit Harvey Daniher as well as Ben Pannam, with both kicking four goals each. Tom Bell also kicked three whilst Andrew Stellas provided an extra target, finishing with two goals.
However, Mitch Hill was the most impressive inside forward 50, presenting well, always providing a suitable target inside 50 and kicking three important first half goals, albeit it could’ve been a lot more had it not been for inaccurate goalkicking.
Speaking post-match, Hill said it was important to respond after last week’s defeat and that the focus was to capitalise on their quick ball movement.
“Last week we had a lot of opportunities inside forward 50 and we just didn’t capitalise,” he said.
“We were quite hesitant in taking the game on last week but today we took the game on, and it ended in a positive result.”
For Macleod, Luke Joyce came back into the side and provided one of the few sparks up forward, adding two goals to his name. Justin White and Ned McKeown also competed hard and consistently provided a bit of dash off the half back line while Sebastian Latina was the visitors best midfielder.
On a beautiful day out at Greensborough War Memorial Park the home side got an early goal courtesy of a Mitch Hill snap inside the first four minutes. The Borough then went on to kick three quick goals inside three minutes, leading by 23 points inside the first 10 minutes of the game and set the ascendency early.
After a brief period, which saw the ball swaying into each 50-metre arc, Tom Bell managed to pick the ball up one handed near the goal square and snap truly for Greensborough’s fifth goal of the term 16 minutes in.
Macleod responded through Ned McKeown after a strong grab and a nice setup from Luke Joyce for their first of the contest. Daniher snatched one late on in the term to extend the margin back out to 29 points heading into the first break.
The Borough picked up where they left off to start the second term courtesy of an early goal for Mitch Hill, who was starting to get on top of the Macleod defenders inside forward 50.
Macleod once more started to even it up and get inside their attacking 50, but Greensborough’s defence stood tall once again and soon after, they went on the counterattack at the seven-minute mark, with McCubbin snapping truly to extend the margin further.
Luke Joyce converted a tough snap from just outside 50 to get his first goal on Macleod return, but again, Greensborough responded with the next few majors to produce an even seven goal lead heading into the main break.
It was once more a quick start for the Borough in the second half, kicking four majors inside the first 10 minutes to suddenly extend the margin to 12 straight goals.
Joyce again tried to turn things around when he kicked his second, but Saade Ghazi’s men were relentless, and the contest looked all but over at three quarter time when the hosts led by 78-points.
Macleod had their chances to add respectability to the scoreboard in the final term but once again failed to take advantage of their chances. The Borough had their own chances to extend the margin but also failed to convert.
Whilst a quiet Patrick Martin managed to get his only goal of the contest late on, Greensborough continued to pile on the majors right until then end, completing the ultimate response to last week.
