A magnificent defensive performance saw Montmorency book their spot in Melbourne Greyhounds Division 1 second semi-final after defeating North Heidelberg by 19 points at Preston City Oval.
The Magpies kept the Bulldogs scoreless in the first and third quarters, helping them prevail 9.14 (68) to 7.7 (49) at Preston City Oval.
It was a well-rounded performance from Nick Rutley’s men, with the Magpies registering nine separate goal kickers, all managing the sole major each.
Stefan Uzelac put in a true captain’s performance for the Magpies, taking several intercept marks and shutting down multiple scoring opportunities from his opponents in his role as a key defender.
Connor Kane was also terrific in the defensive half and arguably a match winner in his own right. Tasked with one of the biggest match ups of the day, he got the better of Doggies spearhead Parker Heatley and kept the Division 1 leading goal kicker goalless for just the fourth time this year.
Magpies coach Nick Rutley was full of praise for Kane’s performance.
“Connor was enormous… he just lives on 1v1 contest and he doesn’t care about possessions he just wants to win or half his contest and he was brilliant at that today,” Rutley said.
Liam Hunt continued his strong season to finish as the Bulldogs’ best, with the same to be said for Brodie White.
While North Heidelberg also didn’t have any multiple goalkickers, they did produce the highest scoring quarter of the game with a four-major final term to give the Magpies a slight scare.
Montmroency’s Logan Butcher drew first blood for the day, with the breeze helping his kick from 55 metres out, reaching the vacant goal square and kindly bounce through.
Braedyn Gillard and Marcus Lentini also added to the goal tally within minutes of each other to give the Magpies a hot start to the contest.
Despite not impacting the scoreboard at all during the opening term, North Heidelberg did manage to get the ball inside 50, but the aerial dominance of Uzelac denied several opportunities, taking three defensive 50 intercept marks in the opening period.
Trailing by 23 points at quarter time but kicking with the wind in the second term, the Doggies got themselves on the scoreboard quickly through livewire Brock Chircop, who had no issues drilling it through from outside 50 in the opening minute.
A reply however was met quickly through Montmorency tall Patrick Fitzgerald, who pounced on the loose ball in the goal square and quickly got boot to ball.
Teammate Ben Paterson then showed his class out of a forward 50 stoppage, swinging onto his non-preferred left boot and snapping truly, extending the margin to 30 points in the process as well.
But the Bulldogs would bite back though, stringing together consecutive goals via Braidyn Hirt and Brody Bell, with the latter being the beneficiary of silky ball movement further up the ground allowing him to have a shot under limited pressure close to the boundary.
With a 22-point advantage at the main break, Nick Rutley’s men were determined to put the final to bed in a dominant third quarter.
However, despite keeping their opposition scoreless again, they could not put the Bulldogs away, with Montmorency’s eight scoring shots resulting in just the one goal.
The sole major came from Ayhan Bajramov just two minutes in, with his side’s next seven shots at goal only registering minor scores, six of which came within an eight-minute period.
Rutley however did not emphasis the missed opportunities when he rallied his troops at the final change, believing it would only hurt his group.
“If I address it and double down it’s quite negative. We want to go straight into what we need to achieve in the last quarter,” he said.
It looked to work as the Magpies fired the opening two goals of the final term.
Batchelor showcased his blistering speed early in the piece, taking three bounces in the front half of the ground and finishing truly on the run.
His goal was followed by second-gamer Levi McCormack, who strolled into an open goal and all but sealed the game when the margin extended to 44 points at the 11-minute mark.
North Heidelberg would not go down without a fight however, going all-out attack in the final stages and even providing a late scare after managing four consecutive majors all within 12 minutes.
Jared Crosbie’s long bomb from outside 50 saw the deficit sit at just 18 points at the 23-minute mark, but once the Magpies got their hands on the footy, they managed to control the contest and run down the clock, finishing 19-point winners in the process.
