MONTMORENCY gave its finals chances a huge boost with a 20-point away win over Heidelberg at Warringal Park in Round 15.
The 11.15 (81) to 9.7 (61) result enabled the Magpies to jump inside the top five on the Division 1 ladder and saw the Tigers surrender top spot to Greensborough on percentage.
Patrick Fitzgerald kicked four goals for the Magpies to bring up his half century for the 2014 season and stay just three goals behind Greensborough’s Tim Bongetti, who sits on 54 goals so far this season.
Wayne Pavitt also chimed in with a bag of three goals of his own with a host of other players kicking singles as the Magpies recorded their fourth successive win over Heidelberg, and their straight win at Warringal Park.
For the Tigers, Jordan Treloar and Allan Young were the only multiple goal scorers slotting two apiece.
Both teams came out of the blocks slowly, adjusting to the conditions, causing for sloppy kicking and skill errors all around the ground.
Neither team was able to find the goals early on, until a costly error on a kick-in gifted Callum Lewis the first goal of the game for the Tigers.
The scoring then began to pick up as Fitzgerald was able to snag two goals within three minutes to give the Magpies a nine-point lead. Tiger utility Paul Bower was then able to kick a stunning goal on his left foot to cut the margin to just three points at the first change.
The Magpies found another gear in the second quarter, using the ball well around the ground and kicking four of the first five goals, including three to Pavitt to extend their lead to 26 points at the main change.
The margin could very well have blown out further, with the Magpies having 11 scoring shots to three in the second term.
The game again slowed down in the third quarter, with the ball going end to end and neither team able to hit the scoreboard.
It took until the eight-minute mark for the scoring to open, when Montmorency captain Ryan Jackson slotted a goal to put the Magpies ahead by 32 points.
It looked as though the visitors would run away with the game, doing most of the attacking late in the quarter, but a 50 metre penalty in favour of the Tigers gave Ben Kerton an easy attempt on goal which he converted.
The Tigers looked as though they could make a late comeback, kicking two of the first three goals of the final quarter to cut the deficit to less than 20 points.
But a 50 metre penalty proved costly and Shane Tennant was able to kick just his second goal of the season to put the game out of reach of the Tigers.
For the Magpies, Jesse Donaldson and Ryan Jackson were instrumental in the win, getting first use of the ball around the ground. Harley Ryan was also superb off half back.
This week, the Magpies will host third-placed neighbour Lower Plenty in a must-win game to keep ahead in the finals race.
The Tigers will head to J.E. Moore Park to take on West Preston-Lakeside who will be looking to bounce back after an 81-point loss at the hands of Greensborough.
Final score: Heidelberg 9.7 (61) def by Montmorency 11.15 (81)
