Heidelberg scored its first win of the season, beating West Preston-Lakeside by two points in a thrilling Round 2 contest at J.E. Moore Park.
Chaz Sargeant was the standout player in the 9.14 (68) to 9.11 (65) result, booting five goals for the Tigers, including the match-winner at the 23-minute mark of the last term.
Sam Gilmore was dominant in the ruck for the victors, while defender Josh Gribben and young rover Lachlan Wilson also excelled.
Adam Valeri and Jackson Clarke were best for the home side in defeat, while Patrick Karnezis offered plenty of drive and looked to be the match winner when he put the Roosters ahead midway through the last quarter.
Coming off the back of a two-point loss against Whittlesea in Round 1, the Tigers started strongly and kicked the first two goals of the match through Jake Thomas and Harrison Payne.
After a poor opening 15 minutes, the Roosters responded with three goals in a six-minute patch, which included long bombs from Sam Glover and James Tadd and a calm set shot from Ahmed Saad to take a four-point lead at the first break.
The second quarter belonged to Heidelberg and Sargeant, with the key forward kicking all four of the Tigers goals in the quarter, including a classy right foot snap from the boundary.
Gilmore was dominant in the ruck, often tapping the ball to the advantage of his teammates, who drove the ball forward. Ryan Stone, Michael Brunelli and Will Goss all had a big impact in the term, giving the Tigers a 17-point lead at the main break.
West Preston-Lakeside responded emphatically in the third term, with Saad kicking his second to give the Roosters some momentum at the start of the quarter.
Brilliant work off half back from skipper Nathan Valladares made it hard for the visitors to impact the scoreboard – managing only three behinds for the quarter.
A superbly-weighted pass from Liam McVeigh resulted in a beautiful snap goal from Brynn O’Connor to put the home side within a kick.
Patrick Karnezis was electric in the middle as he and Saad linked up before Saad lowered his eyes to find Ozgur Uysal, who put his side in front with a silky snap.
A late goal to Daniel Valeri gave the Roosters all the momentum heading into the final quarter, leading by eight points at three-quarter time.
After being kept goalless in the third quarter, Heidelberg replied quickly in the fourth with key forward Sam Grimley taking a pair of contested marks, which resulting in two majors to snatch back the lead.
Karnezis responded shortly after to regain the lead for the Roosters, kicking truly to bring up his first of the day after kicking four behinds prior.
The match was locked up at 63-62 with no side holding back from the contest. Both Valeri brothers were attacking contest after contest, while both Carl Adams and Valladares were very aggressive across half back for the Roosters.
However, it was not to be for the Roosters as a coast-to-coast play, which began from a kick-out from defence, saw Gilmore and Ben Irving link-up to set-up Sargeant. From 40m he showed no nerves, put the kick straight through the middle for his fifth.
The Tigers were able to defend desperately in the final stages to clinch an important victory – their first under new coach Frank Raso.
Final score: West Preston-Lakeside 9.12 (66) def by Heidelberg 9.14 (68)
