Northcote Park remains in contention for a double chance in September following a 31-point victory over in-form West Preston-Lakeside at J.E Moore Park on a windy Saturday afternoon.
Leading by just two points after a low-scoring first quarter, the Cougars broke away from the Roosters to record a 13.9 (87) to 8.8 (56) victory.
Following a reserves game that ended with a post-siren kick that tied the game, the seniors also looked to be heading down the same path in the first term, before the Cougars put their foot on the gas.
Despite kicking into a strong breeze, Northcote Park was able to draw first blood through underrated forward Patrick O’Connell. But, with the wind behind their backs, the Roosters kicked truly through Alex Gleeson to tie it all up.
Northcote Park came out firing in the second term, kicking the opening goal as they began to get their hands on the ball more often than their host. The Roosters briefly stopped their momentum, kicking a goal through David Bonadio, but the Cougars piled on the next three majors to go into the second half 20-point leaders.
The reigning premiers started the third term even stronger than they did the second, kicking four goals in a row into the wind to amass a game-high 44-point lead midway through the quarter.
Staring at a big loss, the Roosters went on to kick the final two goals of the quarter, including a brilliant running goal from Oliver Dufficy. The late goals cut the margin back to 30 points heading into the final quarter, with all the momentum with the home side.
The Roosters’ charge continued into the last quarter as the kicked the opening goal in the first minute via James McInerney to cut the margin to 24 points. Given they booted four goals to zero in the final quarter of their first meeting with Northcote Park this season, there was genuine belief that a comeback win was on the cards.
The Cougars were able to respond through skipper Bronik Davies to keep the game at bay, before the Roosters charged again.
Gleeson kicked a brilliant clearance goal only seconds later and was again involved in the next goal, dishing off to McInerney who kicked truly to cut the margin to 19 points.
However, the Cougars showed why they are again a premiership favourite and held their nerve in the midst of a strong challenge. They withstood the Roosters charge and went on to kick three of the next four goals to win by 31 points.
With five percent separating them from Heidelberg in third place, they will now be looking to boost their percentage as they take on the relegation wary Lower Plenty at home. The Roosters take on red-hot Bundoora at home, needing to win to keep their place inside the top five.
Final score: West Preston-Lakeside 8.8 (56) def by Northcote Park 13.9 (87)
