Northcote Park’s winning streak continued as it beat a gusty Greensborough by 19 points at Bill Lawry Oval on Saturday.
The Cougars – now with five consecutive wins – were able to kick three goals clear in the last quarter, defeating the Boro 15.10 (100) to 11.15 (81).
In a tightly contested match all day, where the biggest margin at any point was only four goals, Koden Colman kicked the final two goals of the game to bury the spirited fight put up by Greensborough.
For every couple of goals Northcote Park kicked clear, the Boro found an immediate answer. When Cougars’ captain Bronik Davies and Mitchell Papas kicked the first two goals after the half-time break it appeared that this contest was heading towards a blow out.
But Greensborough responded through goals to Tim Bongetti, Rhys Boyden – who kicked four goals for the day – and then goal sneak Cameron Jordan all within a five-minute purple patch to keep it well and truly alive in the contest.
Greensborough coach Robert Hyde was clear to his players at three quarter time that he wanted them to continue to fight.
He was impressed with the grit and determination for the first three quarters but knew his players had one more quarter in them.
And he wasn’t wrong as Greensborough fought its way back to within four points after Josh Grubb kicked truly. But the class of Northcote Park shone through in the end holding off a resilient Boro.
Mitchell Papas and Koden Colman contributed seven goals between them to bring their tally to 29 goals in the past four games. Papas provided a focal point for every Northcote Park long kick inside 50m and managed to mark almost everything that came his way.
Pat O’Connell across half forward and Julian Violato down back were impressive for the Cougars, the latter especially in the third and fourth quarters when the Boro were able to lift their inside 50m counts.
The Northcote Park midfield remained on top in the clearances through Davies, Harley Short, Doug Morris and Matt Deledio – all of which were in the better players on the day for the Cougars.
While a win was the desired outcome for Greensborough, it certainly lost no admirers. The Boro proved they can match it with the best and will be every chance for a finals spot come the end of the season.
Conlan Gunn again wound back the clock with another fine performance for the Boro, along with Josh Grubb and Ricky Mullins in the midfield.
Boro defenders Drew Wilson and Brent Ryan were resilient against numerous Cougar attacks and found plenty of the ball as well.
Cam Jordan was again lively up forward, kicking two great goals from the pocket in the third quarter – finishing with three goals for the game, a week after booting five.
Despite the win, the Cougars slipped to third spot on the ladder, behind second-placed Heidelberg on percentage while Greensborough remains fifth after the loss.
Next week Northcote Park travels to Montmorency in a mouth-watering clash while Greensborough heads to Epping in a must-win game for the Boro to remain in the top five.
Final score: Northcote Park 15.10 (100) def Greensborough 11.15 (81)
