Northcote Park produced another emphatic victory in a boost to their MC Labour Division 2 survival hopes, this time by 61 points over Panton Hill at Bill Lawry Oval.
After leading by two points at quarter time, the Cougars went to work on Simon Amore’s men, kicking 11 consecutive majors from the start of the second term, until the final moments of the last quarter, to record a 16.11 (107) to 6.10 (46) triumph.
The club’s only two wins of the season have now come in consecutive matches as Anthony Palmer’s side looked to have found their groove in 2024.
Panton Hill meanwhile missed an opportunity to go equal fifth by the end of Round 11, and now sit with a 4-7 record.
The home side’s victory was led by skipper Matthew Perry who was incredibly influential in midfield as well as up forward, where he kicked two majors to take his season tally to 18.
Michael Amad and Thomas Zuccala also had impressive days out, helping the Cougars win the stoppage battle and also providing their forwards with the plenty of looks on goals, with their side registering nine more shots on goal than their opponents for the afternoon.
In fact, with another 100+ score, Northcote Park became the highest scoring side throughout the previous two rounds.
This time, it was headlined by Ricky Fandrich who finished with an equal season-high of four majors. It’s the third occasion he has achieved the feat and he has now booted 25 goals for the season.
In the losing effort for the Redbacks, Giulian Fable was a shining light in the loss, and was incredibly damaging as the side’s main rebounding defender.
Further afield, Thomas Blake returned to the team and was set for a huge afternoon after kicking three opening quarter majors. Though he was still a solid contributor for his side the rest of the game, the lack of inside 50 entries for his side after quarter time meant he was unable to add any more goals to his name.
Though there was daylight between the two sides by the end of the contest, it was an evenly fought game in the opening term with each team trading five goals apiece for the quarter.
The Cougars kicked three of the first four majors of the game inside the opening 10 minutes, with the lead stretching out to 15 points, before the visitors ended the period strongly with three of the final four goals themselves, including back-to-back majors by Blake at the end of the term, to trail by just two points at quarter time.
The battle was reminiscent of the two side’s Round 2 clash earlier this season, where Panton Hill held on to prevail by five points.
But the Redbacks struggled to keep up with the pace of the game from the second term onwards. Their defensive unit did their best to withstand the constant inside 50 entries being produced by Northcote Park, but the hosts were relentless in attack, and went on to pile five goals to nil during the second quarter.
The game was being played almost entirely in the Cougars’ front half, with the visitors managing to score just one behind for the term.
Panton Hill had better chances to end the goal drought during the second half, but it was the hosts who continued to find the answers, with Fandrich leading the charge again.
Despite only three majors being kicked for the term, Anthony Palmer’s men were still in complete control of the contest and managed to balloon the margin out to 53 points by three quarter time.
Clark’s third major inside the first two minutes of the final quarter kickstarted the party for Northcote Park, and they would kick a further two majors and get out to an advantage as high as 70 points before the Redbacks, after multiple chances during time-on, finally broke the drought and found the big sticks with moments remaining.
It didn’t take away from Northcote Park’s dominance, who produced consecutive 50+ point wins for the first time since 2019.
