West Preston-Lakeside made a major statement in the opening round of the 2022 Melbourne Greyhounds season, comfortably defeating fellow premiership fancy Bundoora at J.E. Moore Park.
With the likes of Ethan Penrith, Luke Lirosi and Kobe Brown unavailable, the Roosters also had to contend with several late outs, which included co-captain Nathan Valladares, Max Dreher, Jaylon Thorpe and Carl Adams.
However, the two-time reigning premier and last season’s minor premier were the better side from the first bounce and contained a potent Bundoora line-up in the 14.10 (94) to 8.9 (57) triumph.
Ahmed Saad again displayed his freakish skill and speed up forward, kicking six goals and dishing off plenty of others to teammates in a superb start to his 2022 campaign.
Former captain Joel McDonald led a relatively new defensive group and had great support from former Bull Damo Aujla, who was impressive in his first game since joining from Pascoe Vale.
Alex Federico, Daniel Costanzo and Josh Iacobaccio also played leading roles in the win, while reigning best and fairest Matthew Harman continued his strong form from 2021.
Speaking on the NFNL Match of the Day broadcast post-match, West Preston-Lakeside coach Rob Maiorana said he was thrilled with his club’s performance.
“To come out with the four points given the circumstances and with nine guys on debut, I thought it was really exciting,” Maiorana said.
“I’m really proud and (it was) probably one of the best wins in my time here.”
Hamish Shepheard was a shining light for Bundoora, working both in the ruck and up forward. He finished with two goals and assisted several others.
Nathan Howard also competed well, while Sam Lloyd (three goals) and Nathan Thomas tried hard.
On a cold and windy day to open the NFNL season, Josh Iacobaccio got the Roosters off to the perfect start with the first goal of the year at the two-minute mark.
Saad kicked his first a few minutes later with a superb effort from the boundary, before Lloyd responded for Bundoora.
Following another freakish Saad goal, the Bulls finished the quarter much better and took a two-point advantage into the first break courtesy of goals to Shepheard and Lloyd.
The second quarter was a lot more congested, however the ball was predominately locked in West Preston-Lakeside’s forward half.
Hayden Gill was the only goal scorer in the quarter, kicking two goals in his first Roosters’ game after crossing from Macleod in the summer.
The home side kept Bundoora scoreless throughout the term to take a handy 16-point lead into half time.
It was once more a congested to start the second half, before Daniel Constanzo opened the scoring with a goal at the eight-minute mark to stretch out West Preston-Lakeside’s lead to 22 points.
But just as the Roosters looked like running away with the game, Bundoora responded with two goals in two minutes, as Shepheard took over up forward.
He took a towering mark and kicked a goal in the goal square, before pulling in another commanding grab close to home and handballing off to Lloyd for his third as the Bulls cut the margin back to 10 points.
However, West Preston-Lakeside responded in true champion fashion when challenged.
The Roosters kicked two goals in five minutes through Saad and Rainier Pezzin to take a 20-point lead into the final change.
They then made a lightning start to the fourth term, with Iacobaccio kicking two and Saad his fourth to extend the lead to a game-high 37 points at the seven-minute mark of the quarter.
Kain Proctor responded with a goal from a set shot to give Bundoora a glimmer of hope, but it was quickly extinguished when Saad added his fifth and Costanzo his second in the three minutes that proceeded.
In a high-scoring final term, the sides traded majors throughout red-time, with the Roosters winning the quarter by six goals to three to make a winning start to their 2022 campaign.
Final score: West Preston-Lakeside 14.10 (94) def Bundoora 8.9 (57)
WEST PRESTON-LAKESIDE
Goal Kickers: A. Saad 6, J. Iacobaccio 3, H. Gill 2, D. Costanzo 2, R. Pezzin
Best Players: A. Valeri, M. Harman, D. Costanzo, J. Iacobaccio, A. Federico, J. McDonald
BUNDOORA
Goal Kickers: H. Shepheard 3, S. Lloyd 2, K. Proctor, N. Thomas, J. Hobbs
Best Players: N. Howard, S. Lloyd, J. King, H. Shepheard, N. Thomas, L. Collins
