In two tight games today, North Ballarat and Coburg both recorded their second wins of the season.
Roosters win for Fitzy
North Ballarat has given record breaking coach Gerard FitzGerald a fairy tale milestone game, with a five point win over Frankston.
Jordan Staley kicked his fourth goal late in the game to regain the lead for the Roosters with just minutes remaining, denying the Dolphins their first win of the season.
Frankston finished the game just as they had started it - full of run, fierce tackling and options to goal.
The Dolphins looked to dampen the milestone match for North Ballarat, kicking the first four goals of the game to jump out to a 25 point lead at the 21 minute mark.
A five goal unanswered second term by North Ballarat changed the complexion of the match. The Roosters got the match ups in defence right, and starting using the grandstand side of the ground to attack as they took a 12-point lead into the second half. Staley was the key up forward for the Roosters with three first half goals.
Khan Haretuku was the man to keep Frankston in the game in the second half; four goals helping the Dolphins challenge the home side.
Nineteen points was the margin at three quarter time, and after Haretuku opened the final term with two goals North Ballarat’s lead was under fire. While the home side replied, Ziggie Alwan cut the margin to five points then Michael Lourey kicked his first of the day to give Frankston the lead, 19 minutes into the final term. The lead lasted seven minutes as Staley marked strongly to convert, and win number two for the season went the way of the Roosters.
Nick Peters (27 disposals) was best for North Ballarat, along with Liam Anthony (30) Nick Rippon (30), Staley and Lucas Cook (24) in defence.
Best for Frankston were Ben Cavarra, Shane Hockey, Haretuku (four goals) and Josh Tynan.
Coburg comeback
Coburg has completed a come from behind win to claim its second victory of the season, defeating Casey Scorpions by eight points.
The win denied Casey a chance to be sitting inside the top eight at the end of the round, as the Lions recorded their first win on home turf since returning to stand alone status.
Four first half goals from VFL State squad member Lech Featherstone – three in the second term – got Coburg back into the game after Casey jumped out to a 30 point lead midway through the quarter. Coburg cut the margin back to 13 points at half time.
Jake Anderson took over from Featherstone as the goal kicker in the third term, kicking two in a row to tie the scores after a goal drought of 18 minutes to open the third term. Lions captain Nick Carnell gave them the lead for the first time since early in the first quarter, but this was quickly erased to see Casey hold on to a one point lead at three quarter time.
Casey jumped back out to a seven point lead early in the final term, but then it was all Coburg.
After a number of missed chances, the Lions finally hit the front through Erroll McConnell, then Nick Robertella sealed the game with his first putting the game out of reach
Featherstone led the way with four goals and was best for Coburg, along with Linton, McConnell and Andrew Sturgess (27 disposals).
For Casey, Michael Evans was their only multiple goal kicker with two, while Viv Michie (34 disposals), Evans (30) and Jack Fitzpatrick were their best.
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Last Modified on 19/05/2014 11:07