Greensborough have all but secured a spot in the 2022 Melbourne Greyhounds Division 1 finals series after defeating North Heidelberg by eight points at Greensborough War Memorial Park.
Despite a slow start, the Boro never went away from their attacking mentality as a three goal to one last quarter ensured a 11.11 (77) to 9.15 (69) victory.
Greensborough now sit six points clear in fifth spot and are in the box seat to make yet another finals appearance while North Heidelberg now fall 10 points adrift of the top five with the defeat now making a trip to the finals a difficult task.
The key contributors for the home side came from the defensive end as Angus Seivers and Nicholas Riddle kept their side within reach all afternoon.
2019 Frank Rosbrook Medallist, Tom Bell was again brilliant around the ground and proved to be instrumental up forward with three majors, the fifth time this year he’s kicked three or more goals in a game.
In his Bulldogs debut, Majak Daw had his way in the ruck contest which opened the way for Liam Nunan and Kyle McDonald to dominate the clearance count. But in his second game of the season, Jhye Baddeley-Kelly was best on ground for the visitors, with his VFL experience standing out.
The Boro would register the first goal of the day through a set shot conversion by Lucas Aquilina, but the home side would struggle to find the big sticks for the remainder of the term.
North Heidelberg took over the possession count and converted their opportunities with goals coming from the likes of Jesse Tardio, Adam Braendler as well as two from Billy Hogan, to give the visitors a 19-point quarter time lead.
Also making his NFNL debut, former Carlton ruckman Matthew Kreuzer got in on the action early in the second term when he put through Greensborough’s second major of the afternoon. Zak McCubbin followed suite to kick another that would reduce the margin to 13 points.
Defenders Charles Le Fanu and Nicholas Matthews laid the structure to a Bulldog backline that rebounded countless entries which helped stabilise a short lead.
After a goal from Jarred Crosbie, the home side turned to Bell, who kicked two crucial goals to reduce the deficit to seven points at the main break.
Kreuzer and Daw would each exchange goals to open a third quarter that was again held in control by the Boro.
Saade Ghazi’s men looked to be in full stride, and it would pay off once more thanks to a three-kick passage of play up the ground that led to a run-in goal by Josh Caddy to give Greensborough their first lead since the opening quarter.
However Jack Mapleson would make sure that lead would be short lived, with a running left foot snap regaining the advantage for the visitors heading into three quarter time.
The Boro’s gradual improvement throughout the course of the game would break out in the final term, with Dylan Clancy converting his opportunity to give the lead back to his side.
Fatigue from both teams started to show as a 15-minute scoring drought highlighted the strong defensive efforts of the two sides.
Midway through the term, the drought would be broken when Bell’s third major extended Greensborough’s margin to seven points.
Shortly after, the Bulldogs’ defensive composure came to a halt when Ethan Luke intercepted a kick-in and proceeded to slot through a major to give his side a 13-point lead.
Nicholas O’Neill got one back for North Heidelberg, but the Boro were able to defend their lead long enough to prevail by eight points.
