West Preston-Lakeside continue magical run with NFL Division 1 preliminary final victory over North Heidelberg
From 0-6 to a grand final, West Preston-Lakeside extraordinary premiership defence continued with a nail-biting win over North Heidelberg in the preliminary final for the second year in a row.
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A grand final selection nightmare is brewing at West Preston-Lakeside.
The Roosters will defend their NFL Division 1 premiership against Greensborough this Saturday after a 12-point preliminary final win over North Heidelberg at Preston City Oval.
But as many as four players could be axed from the victorious 22 in what looms as a tough week for coach Rob Maiorana and his selectors.
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Port Melbourne-listed midfielder Matthew Signorello is available after the Borough’s VFL campaign ended, while reigning club best-and-fairest Sam Glover is eligible despite spending most of the season with Collingwood’s VFL side.
Ozgur Uysal has served his two-week suspension and Mark Kovacevic — best on ground in the grand final last year — will have the opportunity to prove his fitness after battling a knee injury for much of the season.
“There’s some interesting decisions that need to be made, obviously the boys have been getting the job done the last three weeks,” Maiorana said.
“We’ll pick our best side to take on Greensborough. There’s always tough calls to make come grand finals, but it’s about the team and what we think is best to knock off Greensborough.”
After starting the season 0-6, West Preston-Lakeside made history just making the finals and has knocked off Montmorency, Heidelberg and the Bulldogs in a magical run to the decider.
The Roosters started strongly and took an 18-point lead to quarter-time after Ahmed Saad goaled after the siren.
Luke Lirosi made it 24 points minutes into the second term after a late hit, a scuffle and yellow cards for Dogs Kyle McDonald and Jake Brown.
However, the incident sparked North Heidelberg into action as Jesse Tardio put his team on his back with an inspirational burst.
The Dogs kicked five unanswered goals but will rue inaccuracy in front of goal, their wasteful 4.7 in the second quarter proving costly.
Holding a two-point lead at the final break, West Preston-Lakeside kicked the opening four goals of the final term to end North Heidelberg’s hopes and season.
Maiorana was pleased with the result but conceded his team would have to improve dramatically to stand any chance against Greensborough.
“I didn’t think we played that well today,” he said.
“We got through and found a way, which was a positive out of it, the boys really dug deep in that last quarter but we’re going to have to improve on that effort.
“I’m just really proud of the group and the club, from the start that we had to get to this point. Whatever happens from here is a bonus really.”
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