In a scrappy affair at Montmorency Park, Greensborough continued their good start to the 2022 Melbourne Greyhounds Division 1 season with a 13-point win over Montmorency.
Both sides had difficulty converting in front of goal, particularly the Borough who kicked 0.7 in the first term, but scoring 11.9 to 7.10 final three quarters proved enough to see Greensborough prevail 9.15 (69) to 11.16 (82)
Tom Bell was easily the man of the match with his four goals and superb midfield work for the visitors while Zak McCubbin and Thomas Brindley also stood out for the Borough.
Patrick Fitzgerald was at his influential best up forward for Montmorency kicking three majors, while Port Melbourne listed midfielder Marcus Lentini, who played his first game for the Magpies in 2022, was impressive despite his lack of discipline at different stages of the game.
It was Montmorency who got off to a flyer in the first term, with a goal within the first 20 seconds of the match courtesy of Nicholas Green. The Borough tried to respond quickly and thanks to some high-flying heroics from Thomas Brindley as well as some fast ball movement, the visitors were producing continuous inside 50 entries.
Despite those efforts however, Greensborough failed to register a goal in the first term. Montmorency had their struggles in front of goal also, as they had the same scoring shots as the Borough by quarter time, yet only led by 10-points, kicking 2.5.
The second term started how the first quarter finished, with both teams continuing to blaze away at the goals.
The Magpies were able to convert the first major of the quarter, but not before Greensborough put through three goals in the space of just five minutes. The first two goals in particular, from Harvey Daniher and Zak McCubbin respectively, came from the strong ability of the Greensborough midfield to win vital clearances inside attacking 50.
As the term went on, players began to grow frustrated with their poor goalkicking, as the two sides combined for 20 behinds by half time, with those three goals in quick succession from Greensborough giving them a two-point lead at the main break.
The beginning of the second half saw both the wind and the shots on goal really pick up.
Tom Bell made the third quarter his own, moving up forward to kick three of Greensborough’s seven goal’s in the term. Lentini kicked a nice major to keep the scoreboard ticking for the Magpies, but it was Bell’s influence up forward that gave Saade Ghazi’s men an even three-goal lead at the final change.
The fourth quarter was a contested slog, with both sides desperate to get the all-important first major of the term. That honour went to Josh Calloway, who kicked truly for the Borough four minutes into the term.
But Montmorency weren’t going to give up without a fight as Patrick Fitzgerald kicked his third major for the afternoon before the Magpies quickly had another thanks to Danko Bzenic.
11-points down at the midway point of the final term, Garry Ramsay’s side threw everything at the talented Greensborough defence to try and reduce the deficit.
But the Borough’s back six were too strong to get through and were able to keep the Magpies scoreless in the final 10 minutes of the match to claim a 13-point victory.
