Following a tight first half in which both teams controlled the play at various moments, the Roosters kicked away in the third term to take a 35-point lead into the final quarter.
The visitors dominated the possession count all day, registering almost 400 touches and 166 marks – a clear indication of their capacity to share the ball efficiently on a consistent basis.
Simon Close, an unassuming key forward who booted six goals, all before three quarter time, was the beneficiary of some classy ball movement from the Roosters midfield.
Kris Bardon, Matthew Vasilevski and Shaun Gannon all had over 30 touches and were relentless in their desire to get first hands on the footy.
At three wins and three losses, the Roosters are yet to win consecutive games.
“We are nowhere near ahead of ourselves,” coach Vin Dattoli said.
“We have to get some momentum and win consecutive games. We had a little bit of work to do from last week attitude -wise, so the big focus for us was to try to get our heads right to play a game of footy as a team and get back to winning the hard ball which we were able to do today.”
Despite taking a one-point lead into the quarter time huddle, Northcote Park didn’t take advantage of numerous opportunities from then on and lacked a strong forward presence.
Cougars coach Jason Heatley lamented his side’s lack of flair when moving the ball forward, allowing the visitors to get men behind the ball and rebound proficiently.
“I think too much we concentrated on kicking the footy down the line where we weren’t looking inside … It really played into their hands because we didn’t have big Woonton down forward and Considine went down injured early. This made it really difficult to kick to bigger targets because we just didn’t have any there. So we had to improvise and we didn’t do that well,” he said.
If anything Northcote Park had more of the play in the first term. Its persistence in the clinches was exemplified by a fierce tackle on Ashley Bardon deep in the Cougars forward 50, at which point Bronik Davies picked up and goaled opportunistically under immense pressure.
At a frantic pace, the contest was becoming a matter of who could take their chances. To this end the Roosters were head and shoulders above their opponents, creating fewer opportunities but taking each one. Alternatively, the Cougars were manufacturing more but taking less.
An even distribution of play in the second term wasn’t reflected on the scoreboard as the 2010 premier took a 15-point lead into the main break.
The game lacked spice in the second half, a string of missed chances from Jake Mills and the lively Nyaburu Kelly, deflating an otherwise resolute Northcote Park. They were not the only culprits – the inability to hit targets via foot was as much of an issue up the field as it was in the forward 50m.
As if West Preston could smell blood, they began to toy with the away team, chipping the ball laterally and possessing the football as if they had it on an elastic band. Similarly efficiently, their distribution via handball and the way they were willing to run and share was reminiscent of their 2010 premiership success.
It was a similar story in the last and when Billy Micevski extended the margin to 41-points, the result was effectively a foregone conclusion.
Frustratingly for the Cougars, their structure with the ball began to resemble a Kieren Perkins Uncle Toby’s advert, with every Northcote Park forward stationary and pleading with the ball carrier to ‘kick it to me.’
At the other end of the ground, Close persisted tirelessly. “Closey’s efforts week in, week out are always phenomenal,” Dattoli said. “So it’s a great result for him to kick six goals to reward his work ethic.”
West Preston will attempt to cement a spot in the top five next week when it faces Heidelberg, whereas Northcote Park hosts the unbeaten Bundoora at Bill Lawry Oval, a venue which the Cougars haven’t won at since the opening round of the season.
Final score: Northcote Park 10.8 (68) def by West Preston-Lakeside 14.5 (89)
