West Preston-Lakeside sent a warning to the remaining sides in the Meadows Greyhounds Division 1 premiership race after dismantling Montmorency by 77 points in the elimination final.
The reigning premier was excellent both in the sunshine and the pouring rain, winning all four quarters and keeping the Magpies goalless after quarter time to claim a 13.12 (90) to 1.7 (13) victory at Preston City Oval.
The result sets up a mouth-watering clash with Heidelberg in the first semi final. Both sides look more than capable of winning three more games to claim a premiership win, however the loser will be eliminated from the finals race.
Despite making the finals for the first time since 2014, Montmorency’s rollercoaster season came to a disappointing end. However, Garry Ramsay’s side will no doubt learn from this game as it looks forward to 2020.
Ahmed Saad was in fine goal-scoring form and finished with six goals. His ground ball skills, especially in a wet and scrappy second half, were impressive.
Aidan Tilley and Alex Federico both had a major impact and finished with three goals each, while James Tadd, Max Dreher and Michael Marotta were also among the Roosters better players.
After winning the toss and kicking with a slight wind advantage to the city end, West Preston-Lakeside didn’t take long to establish itself in the contest.
After a few early behinds, Marotta kicked the first of the afternoon for the Roosters after running into an open goal.
Tilley then got in on the act, taking a diving mark before converting his set shot nine minutes into the term. It didn’t take long for Saad to join his teammates on the scoresheet, finding the big sticks 40 seconds later to extend the margin to 21 points.
Federico soon stretch the lead to 27 points after making the most of a Montmorency defensive turnover, before the Magpies finally got on the board through Jacob Bedrac – who scored 18 minutes into the quarter. It proved to be his side’s only major of the day.
The Magpies had the momentum late in the term but all they could muster was three consecutive behinds.
Those behinds were even more costly when Tilley scored his second major at the other end just before the quarter time siren to give the reigning premiers a 24-point lead at the first break.
West Preston-Lakeside continued to control the game in the second quarter and it was Saad who rammed home his side’s advantage.
The Division 1 leading goal-kicker couldn’t reward a great transition from his midfielders, missing a gettable set shot early in the term, but he converted not long after to push the margin beyond five goals.
Tilley then kicked his third before Federico found his second from another Magpie turnover to suddenly blow the lead out to 43 points.
Montmorenecy had chances going forward but just couldn’t keep the ball inside attacking 50 and with the Roosters finding all the answers at the other end, each missed opportunity proved more costly for the Magpies.
Saad read a ruck contest to perfection, crumbing the ball front and centre before snapping his third goal as his Roosters went into half time with a 48-point lead.
Heavy rain and strong winds welcomed the players as they returned to the field for the third quarter, but it didn’t stop West Preston-Lakeside finding the scoreboard.
Despite missing two early shots at goal, the Roosters kept the scoreboard ticking over with majors to Saad and Federico – which extended the margin beyond ten goals.
Saad again illustrated his excellence to the Preston City Oval crowd, kicking almost identical crumbing goals in the space of eight minutes to put any chance of a Montmorency fightback to bed.
Keeping the Magpies scoreless in the third quarter, West Preston-Lakeside went into three quarter time full of confidence and with a commanding lead of 75 points.
With pouring rain setting in for the final term, both sides failed to add any majors to the scoreboard, as the Roosters eased into the first semi final with a truly powerful win.
Final score: West Preston-Lakeside 13.12 (90) def Montmorency 1.7 (13)
