In pouring rain, and on a Montmorency Oval that resembled a mud heap, the Tigers were able to hold the Magpies off in the final term to cling to a 4.9 (33) to 4.7 (31) win.
Despite failing to kick a goal in the final term, the visitors led all day and thoroughly deserved their victory.
The trying conditions meant the ball was locked in congestion for most of the afternoon, which suited hard midfielders Sean Logie and Michael Brunelli to a tee as they churned up big numbers around the stoppages.
Michael Gay and Michael Finn’s dominance in the ruck was also telling, with the Tigers’ ruckmen clearly beating Montmorency duo Aisake O’hAilpin and Scott Nugent.
Gay was without doubt the best tall on the ground, winning countless ruck contests and providing his on-ballers first use from the midfield. His dominance enabled Finn to work back into the hole deep in defence and restrict many of Montmorency’s forays forward.
For the Magpies, Ryan Jackson and Luke Jackson worked tirelessly through the middle of the ground, while Dean Giles and Craig Flint stood tall in defence.
A Montmorency win would have provided it a two-game lead in first place, however, with so much at stake it was the Tigers who settled first.
Josh Houlihan was in everything early and his spearing 35m pass found Rhys Healey on the lead deep in the left forward pocket. Kicking from just inside the boundary line, Healey threaded the goal with precision.
The Tigers soon led by 13 points when Caleb Tiller soccered a goal off the ground after outpacing Daniel Coghill. Sean Logie’s initial attempt looked goal bound, however the ball stopped dead in the muddy goal square, rather than bouncing truly.
Montmorency hit back with its first goal when Dean Limbach outmarked Ben Cosgriff in the goal square. It was one of the few occasions that either side was able to score from a fast break, as Kayne Pettifer was able to run unmarked through half forward to spot up his fellow forward.
Limbach then pegged back the margin to two points when he capitalised on free kick from a rare error from Finn. The Heidelberg big man marked deep in the defence, before inexplicably playing on directly in Limbach’s path and being pinged for holding the ball.
The Tigers took a four-point lead into quarter-time and that margin was trimmed to just one point at the main break as both sides managed just a goal apiece in the second term.
Both goals came directly from 50m penalties, with Sean Logie kicking the first goal of the stanza as the clock ticked over 16 minutes.
Montmorency peppered the goals for most of the term, but could manage its sole goal only after Luke Jackson was pushed in the back by Houlihan after marking in the middle of the ground.
Benefitted by the aid of the 50m penalty, Jackson kicked truly with just three minutes remaining in the quarter and the Magpies could soon have been in front after Kayne Pettifer took arguably the best mark of the season.
The former Richmond forward hung for what seemed an eternity on his Heidelberg defender’s back before hauling in the mark of the year contender. Unfortunately, his shot at goal missed to the near side – an unjust reward for such a fine grab.
Upon resumption of play, George Nabbout stretched the Tigers lead to seven points when he sharked a wayward O’hAilpin tap from a boundary throw-in.
That goal – three minutes into the third quarter – would be the only major for the quarter as the rain became heavier and earning a clean disposal became almost impossible for both teams.
The pressure and tackling on the ball carrier only intensified in the final quarter as both sides refused to give an inch.
Jason Kennedy and Finn used their experience to consistently peel off their opponents and make two-on-one marking contests inside Montmorency’s forward half. Conversely, Shane Tennant was able to cut off many of Heidelberg’s forward thrusts and thrust the ball back into his team’s forward line.
As the quarter reached the 15-minute mark, Dean Giles took an intercepting mark and thumped long to Michael Steven who rose above the pack. The midfielder converted from 25m to trim the margin to just one point.
Logie had the chance to seal the game for the Tigers but his shot from the boundary line, following a deliberate out of bounds decision, faded across the face of goal for a minor score.
However, the Tigers were able to lock up the football for the remaining five minutes of the game to hold on for a famous win against their old foe.
Final score: Montmorency 4.7 (31) def by Heidelberg 4.9 (33)
