THERE was a feeling of deja vu about West Preston-Lakeside at Preston City Oval on Sunday.
The Roosters returned to the spacious turf on which they won last season's Northern Football League premiership and once again covered themselves in glory, this time putting away Montmorency by over 10 goals.
A superb performance across half-back by Billy Morrison, a sublime midfield display by Shaun Gannon and a four-goal display by Anthony Rocca who bounced back from a yellow card in the second quarter led the reigning champions to a 19.14 (128) to 10.6 (66) victory.
The Roosters had all the run of play in the opening term, piling on the first three goals to establish a handy buffer.
Montmorency fought back, kicking two late goals to narrow the quarter-time gap to 10 points.
But that was all the Magpies could offer, with Jacob Ramaekers and big man Damien Smith firing as West Preston rammed on four unanswered goals.
It was left to former Carlton and Port Adelaide utility Nick Stevens to fire up Montmorency, with the Magpies recruit bursting through a stoppage to kick the first goal of the second half.
But fellow former AFL star Rocca was not to be outdone, kicking truly at the other end to re-establish a strong West Preston lead.
Rocca tried his trademark torp from 65 metres. He miscued it but his helicopter kick landed safely hands of Luke Griffin, who kicked truly after the three-quarter-time siren.
The final term proved largely academic for West Preston, which advances to the second week of the Division 1 finals.
Greensborough is the Roosters' next mission after the Borough ran out of steam against Heidelberg on Saturday.
Vin Datoli knows it will be a steep hill to climb.
"They're a good side. They are nippy and probably have a similar game style to us. It will be interesting," he said.
The Roosters might have just ended a four-game losing slump but Datoli was focusing firmly on remaining in the finals race next week. "We always knew we were capable of hitting our form. I think a lot of the boys relished the big ground," he said.
"From week to week you have to keep your finger on the pulse. Even if we had have won the last four games, everyone knows that once the home-and-away season is put to bed the mentality of players is up and about."
West Preston-Lakeside meets Greensborough at Preston City Oval on Sunday at 2.10pm.
Last Modified on 05/08/2012 23:30