The Magpies were dominant for 120 minutes on Saturday, winning every quarter in the 16.12 (108) to 5.9 (39) victory at Montmorency Park.
Both sides headed into the clash in terrific form with Macleod beating Northcote Park last week for a fourth consecutive win.
Montmorency has gone from strength to strength after minor hiccups against Eltham and Lower Plenty earlier in the season, and a hard fought victory over reigning premier Bundoora last week confirmed it as a genuine chance to break a 33-year premiership drought.
The home side was strengthened with the inclusion of its co-captain Shane Tennant for his first game of the season after suffering a pre-season foot injury.
On a torn up and muddy ground, Macleod got the opening two goals of the match after Montmorency missed a number of early chances and a repeat of the Magpies’ loss to Lower Plenty was on the cards.
But Montmorency wasn’t on the backburner for long, kicking the final three goals of the quarter through Kayne Pettifer, Dean Limbach and Ben Walton to head into the first break with a nine-point lead.
The Magpies began the second quarter where they left off in the first with another three goals in a row to Pettifer, Jesse Donaldson, and Sammy O’Meara.
After an umpire was replaced through injury, it was Macleod who finally got back on the scoreboard upon resumption of play, with Nicholas Branelly ending a run of six goals in a row for Montmorency.
But the Kangaroos’ fightback was short lived with Montmorency kicking the last two of the quarter through Chris Burton and Ben Walton to make it a 30-point ball game at the main break.
The Mont machine kept rolling into the second half of the match with the Magpies quickly out of the blocks as Pettifer kicked his third and youngster Luke Collins also got on the board.
Nick Lynch got his first of the day to give Macleod a glimmer of hope, but that was quickly cancelled out with another three-goal patch to Montmorency.
Pat Fitzgerald and Luke Jackson were amongst the goal kickers as the Magpies took complete control of the game, heading into the last quarter with a 55-point buffer.
Chris Burton got his second for the day to start the last quarter but Macleod answered back quickly with Matt Walter drilling a nice long bomb from outside 50m.
However, Montmorency rounded out its impressive display with a tight defensive quarter, restricting Macleod from any further goals and managing two of its own down the other end to run out victorious by 69 points.
Ben Haynes and Jesse Donaldson where best for the victor, with Haynes’ drive and skill execution a class above the rest.
For Macleod, John Andrew and Ryan Harris again led from the front on a day where their side had few winners.
Next week Montmorency heads to Eltham looking to atone for its two-point loss to the Panthers under lights in Round 2, while Macleod returns home to host West Preston-Lakeside.
With an eighth win under its belt, Montmorency has a serious claim for the minor premiership this year with the four of its next eight games at home. Could this finally be the Magpies’ year?
Final score: Montmorency 16.12 (108) def Macleod 5.9 (39)
