After trailing at three-quarter-time, the home side kicked the only goal of the final term via a Kyl Ewart kick off the ground to run out victorious 6.6 (42) to 5.7 (37).
It was Eltham’s fourth close loss in a row away to Macleod, with the previous three defeats all by one point.
The result leaves the Panthers languishing in sixth position, now a game and percentage outside the final five, while Macleod has now pushed up to seventh position, and has confirmed its status as a Division 1 participant in 2013.
Shaun Melican was best on ground in the muddy conditions for the Kangaroos, while Kane Shaw toiled away all day in the battle of the captains against Paul Currie. Hayden Seivers and John Andrew also impressed.
For the injury-depleted visitors, Steven Foster gave first opportunity to his midfielders with another stellar game in the ruck, while Andrew Sturgess and Brendan O’Sullivan ran hard.
With two games already played on the ground earlier in the day, the surface resembled a pig’s sty by the time the seniors started, so early points on the board were vital.
Macleod drew first blood when occasional Collingwood VFL player Cathal Corr roved a pack from a marking contest and snapped truly on his left foot at the Rosanna Bowls Club end.
Two minutes later Nick Lynch marked on the lead and converted his set shot from 35 metres to extend the lead to 13 points as the heaven’s opened with a heavy shower.
Eltham however answered back when Mark Keenan was awarded a free kick after being collected high in a marking contest. Keenan calmly booted the goal from 35 metres to reduce the lead to six points.
Lynch grabbed an instant response when he swooped on an advantage call and ran into an open goal to boot his second goal from 20 metres.
When Tom Johnston passed to Currie on his left boot late in the quarter, few would have given him much hope of booting the goal from just inside the boundary line.
But the Panthers skipper went back and kicked an amazing goal with a waterlogged football from 40 metres on the boundary line to grab his first. One final Macleod foray forward saw a minor score, and a seven-point lead to the Roos at quarter-time.
The second quarter was a dour affair as the wet conditions started to tire both teams. There was one goal apiece, firstly via Ewart, while David Folino’s contender for goal of the year answered this.
Folino had positioned himself in the forward press near the boundary line and pounced on a loose kick from defence. Showing the class that saw him play for the Collingwood VFL team last year, he calmly slotted a banana kick right through the middle – trimming Macleod’s lead to just one goal at the main break.
Eltham continued the momentum it had built with Folino’s goal at the back end of the first half, but managed only three behinds in the first ten minutes. With the ball hardly leaving the Panthers’ forward half, they hit the lead thanks to Currie’s second, which came courtesy of a double 50 metre penalty.
When Johnston hit Jackson Weatherald on the lead late in the quarter, the coach’s son wheeled around on his left boot and kicked truly from 40 metres to extend the visitors’ lead to nine points.
Unfortunately for Eltham, this was answered when a mud-soaked Justin White kicked a goal off the ground in the goal square just before the three-quarter time break, leaving the margin at two points.
Under darkening skies, and with the threat of more rain in the air, Macleod had knotted the affair in the first three minutes due to two missed shots.
Stuart Laing put Eltham back in front a few minutes later with a scrappy kick forward that also went through for a behind, despite O’Sullivan trying his best to reel the ball in to make it a major.
But it was to be the home side that ran out victorious, thanks to Ewart’s efforts late in the match. He beat the desperate efforts of Lachie Richardson, whose diving effort was reminiscent of Australian goal keeper Mark Schwarzer, to give the Roos the all-important four points, and leave Eltham thinking ‘what if?’
Macleod has the chance to dish out more heartbreak next week where an away win at Lower Plenty is likely to relegate the Bears back to Division 2, while Eltham is once again on the road, where it should enjoy the wide open spaces of the Whittlesea Showgrounds against the Eagles.
Final score: Macleod 6.6 (42) def Eltham 5.7 (37)
