West Preston-Lakeside edges closer to first minor premiership since 2000
West Preston-Lakeside returned to action in brutal fashion against Hurstbridge, running up its biggest since in a decade on the back of Ahmed Saad’s bag.
Northern
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West Preston-Lakeside coach Rob Maiorana says his club hasn’t achieved anything yet as it prepares for a tilt at a third straight NFL Division 1 premiership.
The Roosters returned from the two-week break in brutal fashion on Saturday, demolishing Hurstbridge by 116 points at Moore Park.
Star forward Ahmed Saad booted a season-high 11 goals, taking his tally to 54 majors and extending his lead at the top of the competition’s goalscoring charts.
The 22.9 (141) to 3.7 (25) romp was West Preston-Lakeside’s biggest win since defeating North Heidelberg by 135 points in Round 13, 2011.
In stark contrast to 2019 when the club came from 0-6 to win back-to-back premierships, everything seems to be going to plan in 2021.
A top-of-the-table finish would be West Preston-Lakeside’s first minor premiership since 2000.
However, Maiorana certainly wasn’t going to let his team get ahead of themselves despite the Roosters’ stellar campaign so far.
“We’ve got a big six or eight weeks ahead of us, so we haven’t really achieved anything to this point other than to set our season up nicely,” he said.
“It’s been up and down with two disruptions, so I wasn’t sure how the weekend would pan out after having a fortnight off but the boys planned as best they could and we churned out a solid performance.”
Despite missing two games through suspension Saad now has a 14-goal advantage over his nearest rival, Montmorency’s Patrick Fitzgerald.
The star small forward is eyeing off a third goalkicking award in four seasons after kicking 73 in 2017 and 76 in 2019.
Maiorana was full of praise for his spearhead.
“I thought he was great, he worked hard for his goals and dished a few off as well,” Maiorana said.
“He was in the game all day – he’s such a dangerous forward to stop – but I thought our whole forward line worked well together.
“When the ball did go inside 50m more often than not we scored, which was pleasing.
“He was fortunate to get on the end of some good delivery, the sheer amount of football coming inside 50m gave Ahmed and the rest of our forwards plenty of opportunities.”
Liam McVeigh booted three goals while Alex Federico continued his outstanding season in midfield and Max Dreher impressed in defence.
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Lachie East was Hurstbridge’s best in defeat, while Joel Naylor booted two of the Bridges’ three majors to continue his superb debut season.
The return of Daniel Keenan from injury was a rare bright spot on a dark day for Hurstbridge.
West Preston-Lakeside finish the season with Bundoora, Heidelberg and Montmorency, a perfect finals warm-up according to Maiorana.
Hurstbridge will look to bounce back when it hosts Montmorency on Saturday.
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