Eltham held off Macleod in a one-point thriller at De Winton Park to jump into fifth spot on the Division 1 ladder and resurrect its finals hopes.
The Panthers were dominant in the first half before a late Macleod surge sparked the match into life, with the 12.6 (78) to 11.11 (77) result coming down to the last kick of the day.
Macleod almost came back from the death, but weren’t able to pull off a remarkable comeback victory in their captain Kane Shaw’s 200th A-Grade game.
With the past four meetings between the sides at De Winton Park all decided by less than a kick, this match definitely went to script. The loss for Macleod means that coach Garry Ramsay is still yet to boast a win as coach against Eltham – the side he played for.
The Panthers were on fire from the outset, booting six goals to two in the first term to take a 28-point lead at quarter time. They were simply dominant in the opening 30 minutes, rarely allowing Macleod to gain an uncontested ball and using it more efficiently than the Kangaroos.
The second term was somewhat quiet with only two goals kicked for the quarter. Fresh from four goals in each of his past two outings, James Kroussoratis was again dominant in the Eltham forward line – booting his third goal in the second term after outmuscling numerous Macleod defenders.
Shaw booted Macleod’s only goal for the quarter after kicking a great snap goal from the boundary line to keep the Kangaroos in the hunt. Otherwise, Macleod had no momentum and looked flat.
That changed in the third as the Roos got their running game going. They booted the first two goals of the term thanks to some great work from Matt Pow and Cathal Corr.
But the Panthers put a halt to the Kangaroos’ momentum as Kroussoratis kicked a brilliant running goal to extend the lead back to 14 points.
However, Josh Henkel kicked a great snap shot right at the death of the quarter to reduce the margin to nine points and set up a thrilling final term.
The Kangaroos kept on coming as they booted three unanswered goals in the final term to take the lead by nine points and looked like having the game sewn up.
Eltham replied as Brad Perry kicked long to Kroussoratis, who outbodied his opponent and ran into the open goal to bring back the margin to three points.
Macleod again stretched the margin to nine points after some brilliant ball movement between Anthony Doherty and Lachlan Considine set up a goal for Patrick Martin.
Kroussoratis booted a sixth goal from the boundary line as Eltham refused to surrender and the young gun was involved again minutes later after spotting up Ryan Keys in the goal square who kicked truly to give the Panthers a two-point buffer.
Desperate for a third successive win, Anthony Doherty pulled his side back in front with a goal with two minutes remaining on the clock.
Holding a five-point lead with a minute to go, the Kangaroos looked to have the game sewn up. However, the lead was to change hands one last time as electric half back Tom Rogers kicked a brilliant crumbing goal to give Eltham a two-point lead.
In the last play of the day, a long kick found its way to Cathal Corr who ran to the 50m arc and unloaded with only three seconds left. The shot looked good off the boot but sailed to the right of the goals, resulting in a fourth single-digit loss for Macleod this season.
Miraculously, its finals hopes remain alive, sitting only sit a game outside the top five with games to follow against Lower Plenty and Greensborough. Eltham faces the tougher tasks of Bundoora and Heidelberg over the final fortnight.
Final score: Macleod 11.11 (77) def by Eltham 12.6 (78)