Greensborough have kicked off the 2026 Meadows Greyhounds Division 1 season in the best way possible, with a 27-point Good Friday victory over Eltham at Greensborough War Memorial Park.
Eltham, who came into this contest as underdogs, employed a physical one-on-one strategy early that was able to negate the impact Greensborough would’ve hoped to have on the match.
But as time wore on the Boro were too strong, and by the final term the margin had grown to a comfortable enough buffer for Greensborough to register a 12.11 (83) to 8.8 (56) victory in front of a very healthy crowd at home.
The Panthers had the dream start when David Evans calmly slotted a set shot to open his side’s account for the season, but it wasn’t long before Harrison Andronaco responded with a beautiful shot from the boundary for the Boro’s first of the afternoon.
This clash was one with plenty of momentum swings, and Greensborough had the first major one as they climbed out to a 13-point lead midway through the first term, but by the start of the second quarter it was Eltham ahead by 8 points as David Evans kicked his third major of the day.
As the second quarter went on, Greensborough began to find some ascendancy and brought the game back onto their own terms, a goal to Brody Glenn put the Boro back in front and it was a lead they carried into the second half with the scores reading 6.5 (41) to 5.6 (36).
Both sides came out of the main break with a renewed sense of urgency, playing tough footy from the get-go and neither side was afraid to get physical with their opponent.
Zak McClubbin kicked a dazzling goal to extend the Boro’s lead to nine points, but Eltham remained at arm’s length behind them to not trail by more than eleven during the third term before stoppage time.
Play opened up for Greensborough towards the end of the quarter, who found a lot more supply to their forward 50 but couldn’t quite capitalise on it, only racking up one goal from their last four scores to lead 9.9 (63) to 7.7 (49) at the final change.
The last quarter saw more separation grow between the sides as Greensborough pushed their lead out as far as 32 points following goals to Angus Seivers, Benjamin Fisher and Ben Ham.
A late goal to the Panthers’ Khy Stovell pulled the margin back down to 26 points, butit was too little too late with Greensborough taking home the win by 27, with the final score reading 12.11 (83) to 8.8 (56).
It was an even spread among the best players on the field, with Brownlow Medallist and star recruit Tom Mitchell featuring heavily around the ball alongside his brother Will Mitchell, while Harrison Andronaco, Angus Seivers and Thomas Brindley also starred for the Boro.
On the Eltham side, David Evans’ three goals were a game high, Kai Turner was a classy operator, and players such as Mitchell Stafford and Bronson Glasgow were important for the Panthers.
Both sides will have a week’s break before returning in Round 2 as Eltham host West Preston-Lakeside at Eltham Central Park, while Greensborough will travel to Beverley Road Reserve to take on Banyule.
