North Ballarat remained in the top eight of the Peter Jackson VFL ladder after demolishing Coburg by 77-points. Brendan Lucas reports.
The Tigers managed to kick the first goal of the game, but it was all one-way traffic as the match turned into a nightmare for the Tigers.
The Roosters run, dash and pressure helped them regain the form that had them in top eight contention only a year ago.
Tigers coach Adam Potter tried to stem the flow giving the players a task of being accountable to a man.
Despite the simplicity, it was too much for the Tigers who conceded too many marks inside 50 resulting in multiple goals.
The Roosters defence also remained strong as they continued to dominate in the air and at ground level up until quarter time.
Billy Driscoll’s mark on the goal line to put one through before quarter time summed up the Tigers’ day.
Paul McMahon slotted two for the second term, and one of the few shining lights for the Tigers, Dylan Murphy, snapped a handy goal to keep them in touch at the 17-minute mark.
The Roosters surged on to kick six out of the seven goals for the second term, and looked slicker and more efficient at half time with a lead of 47-points.
At the 20-minute mark of the third term the Tigers remained scoreless, as once again Dylan Murphy broke the drought with his second.
At three quarter time despite his side’s huge lead Roosters coach Gerard FitzGerald wanted to forget the scoreboard, start fresh and play the game on their terms.
A comedy of errors continued from the Tigers, as coach Adam Potter could only watch in disgust as Aaron Edwards ran into an open goal to kick his fourth.
Emerging ruckman Ben Mabon worked around the grounds all day finishing with 20 possessions and a goal.
Whilst Dylan Murphy never stopped trying for the Tigers finishing with 16 possessions and two goals.
North Ballarat claimed a comfortable win and will rest up with the bye this week heading into a big clash with the inform Geelong in round 19 at home.
Meanwhile, Coburg face cellar-dwellers the Northern Blues, as both sides will fight it out to prevent winning this year’s wooden spoon.
Roosters’ coach Gerard FitzGerald said post-match that the performance was a chance to consolidate their position and keep themselves in finals contention.
“We have a belief and commitment to process outcome, and it was a good reminder for the boys to continue to play well for the scoreboard to continue to look like the way we wanted it to look,” he said.
“We looked at today as a chance to consolidate. We had a really good win last week against Sandy and we had to win today to give ourselves a chance of playing in the finals and we did.”
Photo: Dave Savell
Last Modified on 24/07/2012 12:22