Ben Walton kicks four goals in 100th game to guide Montmorency past West Preston-Lakeside
Ben Walton and Michael Fitz-Gerald bookend Montmorency’s statement win over West Preston-Lakeside as the Magpies move to within percentage of NFL Division 1 finals.
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Montmorency is looming as the NFL Division 1 finals dark horse after knocking off in-form West Preston-Lakeside on Saturday.
An eight-goal-to-one second quarter set up the 32-point victory over the reigning premier at Montmorency Park and lifts the Magpies to within touching distance of the top five.
Only 10 percentage points separate Montmorency and the Roosters in fifth with three games remaining.
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The Magpies have made a late-season charge having won three of their past four and face North Heidelberg, Macleod and Lower Plenty.
“It allows us to keep our destiny in our own hands. If we keep winning, we’ll play finals,” coach Garry Ramsay said.
Milestone man Ben Walton inspired the victory with four goals in his 100th game for the club.
Star defender Michael Fitz-Gerald helped keep West Preston-Lakeside ace Ahmed Saad to just three goals in an absorbing one-on-one contest.
“Ben got a really bad concussion in Round 1 and then hurt a quad, so this is the first time he’s strung three games together,” Ramsay said.
“Fitzy did a great job, it was a really good contest. Ahmed still got his three goals because he’s a great player.
“He’s had Gary Moorcroft, Saad and then this week he’ll go to Shane Harvey, so you don’t get tougher challenges than that.”
West Preston-Lakeside claimed a five-point lead at quarter time but Montmorency’s eight-goal onslaught in the second term all but killed off the contest.
It was a dour arm-wrestle in the second half as the Roosters added some respectability to the scoreboard with four goals to three.
Ramsay said Blake Murphy’s work at the coalface and improved goalkicking proved vital.
“We won the stoppages by 10 and laid 30 tackles for the (second) quarter and the scoreboard followed,” he said.
“We haven’t always kicked well at goal but we got it right on Saturday, so the extra goalkicking practice has paid off.”
A trip to Shelley Oval this weekend will give Montmorency a chance to redeem itself after falling to a three-point home loss to North Heidelberg in their last meeting.
The Magpies had seven more scoring shots on the day and Ramsay said his players wanted to put in an improved showing.
“We started slowly (last time) but maybe we could have won,” he said.
“We feel that was one we let slip, so we’re pretty keen to atone for that.”
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