Hurstbridge survived a thrilling finish in their Melbourne Greyhounds Division 1 clash over West Preston-Lakeside, holding on to a two-point victory at Ben Frilay Oval.
With just seconds remaining in the match, the Roosters’ Malik Elfakahani took a diving mark inside 50 as his side trailed by just three points, however he couldn’t convert his set shot and before the Bridges could even take their kick in, the siren sealed a 10.9 (69) to 9.13 (67) triumph.
It’s Hurstbridge’s first win against the Roosters and their first Round 1 victory since they were promoted from Division 2 at the end of 2016.
The Bridges had five individual goalkickers for their 10 goals, with Joel Naylor picking up where he left off from his breakout 2022 season by kicking three majors.
Bailey Jordan was also prominent up forward, kicking two goals, while captain Ethan Taylor and new recruit Mitch Wild were also some of Hurstbridge’s best.
For the Roosters, Carl Adams and Mitch Crapper kicked three goals apiece, with Adam Valeri impressive in midfield.
It was a strong start from the Bridges who kicked the first four goals of the match, including a massive goal from Wild, launching from 60 metres out just four minutes into the game.
Cooper Barbera then zigged zagged his way through some Roosters opponents to kick his side’s second goal only minutes later. A second from Barbera as well as a set shot conversion from Jordan stretched the home side’s lead to beyond four goals approaching quarter time before a late major from Mitch Crapper reduced West Preston-Lakeside’s deficit to 19 points.
In what would be a sign of things to come, the scoring started to dry up in the second term, but Hurstbridge still won the quarter to extend the margin to 23 points at half time.
Two of the goals came within the opening five minutes of the term courtesy of Joel Naylor from the Bridges and Michael Ercolano from the Roosters.
Jordan and Wild soon had their second goals to put further pressure on the West Preston-Lakeside back six.
But the Roosters came out as almost a completely different side in the second half with a five goal to two third quarter. It could’ve been a different story for either side had they been more accurate, as both teams registered five behinds.
Mohammed Yassine won a 50-metre penalty to kick his first goal in West Preston-Lakeside colours just minutes into the term before Xavier Saviane found the big sticks to reduce the deficit to only a couple of goals.
A settler for the Bridges came through Christopher McCabe, who was up against his former side, after he read the ruck tap from a stoppage to perfection before kicking truly under pressure.
But West Preston-Lakeside would respond immediately through Carl Adams who kicked back-to-back goals in the space of a couple of minutes, to suddenly put the Roosters within a goal.
A turnover from Kye Agosta in defensive 50 gifted Crapper his second goal of the afternoon and the Roosters the lead approaching three quarter time, but Naylor would find his second goal of the game just moments later, to ensure it would be Hurstbridge who maintained the advantage at the final break.
Just two goals were kicked in the final quarter as both sides worked hard to claim the lead. The majors came within a few minutes of each other in the middle of the term with Naylor and Adams kicking their third goals for their respective sides.
The last 10 minutes was an arm wrestle as both sides created plenty of stoppages and even a few goal scoring opportunities.
The Roosters reduced the deficit to three points with minutes remaining Yassine’s kick inside 50 found Elfakahani who took an important grab inside 50. With the clock winding down, his shot from 45 metres out just missed to the left before the siren sounded only seconds later.
