By Ben Carbonaro
Inspied by a match-winning four goals from Brad Fisher, the Northern Bullants defeated Werribee by 32-points on Sunday.
The Bullants zipped clear with a five goal to one opening quarter and were never headed.
Silly errors and general application were what cost the Tigers all day, but a last quarter fight back happened too late for it to have any bearing on the final result.
Best on ground for the Bullants was Fisher for his 11 disposal, four goal performance while former Sydney and Carlton player Jason Saddington chimed in with three goals.
Carlton-listed player Shaun Grigg provided plenty of run as too midfielder David Ellard.
North Melbourne-listed Levi Greenwood (18 disposals) was best on ground for Werribee for his relentless defensive pressure (1 tackle, 3 blocks, 4 spoils) and midfield run.
Marty Pask returned to form as he kicked four goals and took some good marks after struggling to be effective in recent weeks.
Andrew Banjanin (11 hit-outs) and Brant Dickson (8 hit-outs) again shared the ruck duties for Werribee. Both put in serviceable performances at centre bounces and alternated with North-Melbourne rookie Alan Obst around the ground.
Tigers coach Simon Atkins highlighted skill errors as one reason why his charges let him down.
“(It was) nothing different from last week,” he said.
“Turnovers and skills errors, (it was same as last week).”
Consistency and goal scoring were also poor from a Werribee outfit that usually prides itself on playing attacking, consistent football.
“It’s just the consistency over the four quarts and (the ability) to score goals.”
“It’s got to do with when we’ve got the footy in our hands.”
Whilst the round three 66-point to loss to Williamstown was disappointing, Atkins refused to draw comparisons with it and yesterday’s performance.
“(They were) two different ones,” Atkins said.
The Werribee Reserves rebounded from their loss to Sandringham last week with a dominant 70-point win 18.16.124 to 8.6.54
After some poor skills cost them dearly last week, the Tigers played a much better brand of attacking and fast paced football.
They led at every change, as the Bullants struggled to keep up with explosive midfield pace and pinpoint forward delivery.
Ruckman David Kovacevic was best on ground for his 28 disposal, 28 hit-out and two goal performance, while Matthew Quigley (37 disposals) was again a ball magnet in the midfield.
North Melbourne rookie Ben Speight was lively with four goals and 20 disposals in the midfield.
The Tigers are away to Coburg Tigers at ABD Group Stadium at 2pm on Sunday.
Werribee Tigers 1.3 3.8 5.11 10.17-77
Northern Bullants 5.2 8.6 13.10 16.13-109
GOALS:
Werribee Tigers: M. Pask 4, T. Bongetti, A. Obst, B. Dickson, F. Chisholm, A. Banjanin, W. Martiniello
Northern Bullants: B. Fisher 4, J. Saddington 3, D. Boundy, S. O’hAilpin 2, S. Everington, D. Ellard, A. Gianfagna, J. McCorkell, J. Garlett
BEST:
Werribee Tigers: L Greenwood, R. Castello, D. Gleeson, B. Sharp, W. Martiniello, M. Barlow
Northern Bullants: B. Fisher, S. Grigg, B. Bransgrove, D. Ellard, A. Hartlett, J. Anderson
Last Modified on 25/05/2009 13:26