by nfnl.otg.au
Eltham will enter the MC Labour Division 2 finals series in scintillating form following another dominant victory, this time producing a 60-point triumph over Northcote Park at Bill Lawry Oval.
The Panthers dominated possession all day with the Cougars unable to generate enough meaningful opportunities inside their forward 50.
The 11.14 (80) to 2.8 (20) result ends Northcote Park’s campaign, as they needed nothing other than a win to jump Watsonia into fifth spot.
Meanwhile the Panthers have now won three consecutive games by 60 points or more and will be in prime position to tackle St Mary’s in next week’s Qualifying Final.
Despite having no Jesse Donaldson, Eltham’s retuning players flourished. Finnbar Maley excelled all around the ground and finished with two majors while Jason McCormick made it 14 consecutive games with at least one major, finishing with three for the afternoon.
Daniel Owen and Anton Woods also impressed for the visitors while Matthew Perazzola was a standout for the Cougars, racking up multiple disposals from half back and also swinging up forward when required, where he took multiple marks inside attacking 50.
It would be the hosts who opened up proceedings just one minute in the match through Alexander Boyse, who converted his set shot from 40 metres out.
His side would have another highlight in the first quarter, this time at the other end of the ground with Perazzola producing a long torpedo from full back that landed well inside the centre square.
Northcote Park really brought the game up to Eltham early on with great tackling pressure around the contest, which helped them get the upper hand early.
But once Maley got on the board with a terrific mark and goal, the Panthers started rolling.
Tim Bongetti got on the receiving end of a beautiful pass from Colm Culligan to suddenly give the visitors the lead.
Northcote Park were able to reply through Janus Waldron but Eltham, responded quickly themselves with two further goals, to help take an 11-point lead into quarter time.
The second term saw the ball stuck in Eltham’s forward half with neither team finding clear space due to the tackling pressure from the Cougars.
While Eltham were creating more opportunities to score, the pressure at the contest as well as some wayward kicking from both sides kept the scoreline modest.
Jameson Wood would break the scoring drought at the 15-minute mark of the quarter in what proved to be the only major of the match.
Northcote Park couldn’t find any breathing room in their forward 50, with the Eltham’s resolute defence proving to be the difference late in the first half as they limited the home side to just four behinds for the quarter.
With a 16-point lead at the main break, the Panthers threatened to break the game open, locking the ball inside their forward 50 for the majority of the third term.
Daniel Owen proved to be one of Eltham’s best this quarter, highlighted by a great solo effort, weaving in and out of traffic in the forward pocket to score a nice goal.
Maley and Jason McCormick also added to the scoreboard to help extend the visitors’ margin in what was a great team effort from Tim Bongetti’s men.
Midway through the quarter, Perazzola moved up forward to see if he could bring a spark something in attack for the hosts and while he did look dangerous at times, he couldn’t register a major.
Trailing by 36 points at the final change and with fatigue starting to set in, the Cougars struggled to be efficient or clean with their ball use.
Eltham made them pay at the other end and finished with nine scoring shots in the final term, while keeping Northcote Park scoreless in the quarter, to prevail by 60 points.
