Montmorency has reclaimed the highly coveted Ken Hines Shield following a commanding win over Eltham in a twilight thriller.
After an exciting last quarter comeback against Whittlesea last week, the Magpies again displayed gritty and tough football securing a 52-point win over the Panthers.
Following the traditional pre-game ANZAC Day ceremony, Eltham managed to kick the first two goals of the match after 10 minutes of hard-fought, defensive football.
However, an impressive ruck display from Joel McLellan limited Eltham to only two hitouts for the entire quarter.
Although the Mapgies weren’t able to fully capitalise on this dominance, the seamless combination of McLellan and skipper Jesse Donaldson helped set up two Montmorency goals late in the quarter.
Inspired by the ANZAC spirit and the Ken Hines ideal of courage and self-belief, Montmorency’s pressure around the contest – in particular from Ben Shelton and Brett Zorzi – ultimately enabled Patrick Fitzgerald to kick two majors from either flank.
Montmorency’s defence stood tall thanks to the efforts of Josh Slattery, keeping Eltham to two goals for the quarter.
The second term again saw Eltham open the scoring account. But inaccurate kicking and defensive pressure from Alex Potter and Daniel Keenan in pivotal moments kept Eltham to just one major for the quarter.
Montmorency were able to kick away, with four goals scored late in the quarter, with Matt Deaves booting two from set shots outside the 50.
Courageous efforts from Matt Hunt and Lachlan O’Brien, combined with the determination of the seasoned Zorzi gave the Magpies a 19-point lead at half time.
Wanting to apply pressure from the beginning of the third term, Deaves scored an early goal under lights following a one-handed screamer.
But it was excellent composure from youngster Jackson Jones that was the highlight of the quarter, who after pouncing on a poor kick from Eltham, slotted a 50 metre goal from the right flank, much to the delight of the Montmorency faithful.
A captain’s quarter from Donaldson secured a goal from the opposite flank only minutes later, extending Montmorency’s lead and seeing him end the day with three majors.
Although Eltham played precise and clean football for the latter half of the third term, Montmorency’s backline stood firm.
Much like his teammate Jones, youngster Sam Binion led the defence showing superb skill in high pressure situations, keeping Montmorency’s backline structure solid.
Despite this, inaccurate kicking again from Eltham saw them score a mere 1.5 for the quarter as opposed to Montmorency’s 5.3, which besides a late goal from Stephen McCallum, was scored quite early in the term.
As rain set in at the start of the fourth term, Fitzgerald and Deaves each scored a major for the quarter.
Two goals from Eltham’s Bradyn Taglieri and a miracle snap on the boundary from Jamie Doukas in the final term proved to be one of the few highlights for Eltham.
An on-the-siren goal from the skilful Bobby Lamanna closed the game, securing a 52-point win over Eltham.
Montmorency Coach Ben Haynes said that hardness, sticking tackles and a cohesive team effort was the focus going into the highly prestigious game.
“We had 22 contributors, so it was a really pleasing night,” said Haynes.
“The style of footy and the way we moved the footy was pretty good”.
The experience of Montmorency’s leaders combined with the dynamic talents of Jones and Binion was similarly pleasing for Haynes.
“Jacko and Sam were terrific, to get them in and give them some game time is great. They tick all the boxes”.
A late arm injury to Michael Fitz-Gerald appeared to be the only sour note on an otherwise dominant performance from Montmorency.
Haynes hopes that the confidence and momentum from the respected win will help the Magpies overcome their rivals in Greensborough next week.
FINAL SCORE: Montmorency 16.10 (106) defeated Eltham 7.12 (54)
BEST: Donaldson, McLellan, Zorzi, Binion, Slattery, Fitzgerald, Deaves
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