By Travis Parnaby
North Ballarat has won its way through to a VFL preliminary final after disposing of Williamstown by 20 points at AUSTAR Arena.
Trailing by three points at half-time, the Roosters took the lead when Paul McMahon booted two goals in quick succession after the break.
A five-goal to three third term gave the home side the ascendancy and the Seagulls failed to make any inroads on the Roosters 20-point buffer in the last term.
Brett Goodes continued his blistering 2008 form, racking up 20 touches and crucially, eight one-percenters (spoils and shepherds). Coach Gerard Fitzgerald rotated Goodes through the midfield in tandem with other ball magnets such as Matthew Sharkey (25 possessions) and Andrew Swallow (23 disposals).
Eddie Sansbury played a fine game on the wing, using his pace and skill to find the ball 25 times.
No doubt a key to the win was the performance of Rooster tagger Myles Sewell, who held Seagull captain Brett Johnson to 14 touches whilst racking up 16 possessions himself.
For the Seagulls, Callan Ward demonstrated his abundant talent booting four majors from the midfield and Liam Picken continued his stunning form.
Throughout much of the season the Roosters have vied with the Seagulls and Port Melbourne for top spot on the ladder and this was always destined to be a close contest.
The Roosters fired early, managing a five goal to three first term. But the Seagulls hit back in the second, rallying for four goals to take a three-point advantage into half-time.
Both sides struggled with their accuracy at goal with the southerly breeze providing headaches at times.
The Roosters managed five goals from 12 scoring shots in the third to keep the Seagulls in it. But the stingiest defence in the VFL held its nerve in the last quarter and restricted the Seagulls to just two goals.
Back in round 12, the Roosters had too many avenues to goal and again they found 11 individual goal kickers while the Seagulls had six different goal kickers.
Williamstown now battles Frankston in the second semi-final on Saturday, September 13 at TEAC Oval at 1.10pm.
Last Modified on 14/01/2009 18:17