The Werribee Tigers missed out on a valuable double finals chance, going down to North Ballarat at Eureka Stadium last Saturday as Ben Carbonaro.
After a disappointing and inconsistent performance against the Casey Scorpions, Werribee were hopeful of playing improved football against a Roosters team that is firming as a premiership contender.
Werribee flew out of the blocks, kicking five goals to one in a dominant opening quarter display. They played a very strong and consistent brand of football; it was their relentless attack on the ball that caused North Ballarat to make some costly mistakes. The Tigers led by 32 points at quarter time.
The Tigers good work came undone as a more disciplined and aggressive North Ballarat team fired during the second quarter. Some strong defensive work and fast ball movement through the middle really helped the Roosters. Such a marked improvement helped the Roosters to a handy four point main break lead.
North Ballarat was the dominant side after the main break and despite the visitors working hard to remain in the contest, it wasn’t to be. The Roosters kicked five goals to three as they had much of the momentum and control of the ball through the middle. They led by 20 points at the final break.
Both teams scored just two goals during the final quarter and despite the Tigers showing significant improvement, they were unable to break free from immense pressure applied by North Ballarat.
Tigers coach Paul Satterley was disappointed with his team’s inability to build on a strong first quarter performance.
“When you’re absolutely flying, you just need to take opportunities and I don’t think we did today,” he said.
“Whether it’s North Ballarat or whoever, if you are not going to kick straight and keep that pressure up it’s debateable if you can win the game or not.”
Satterley thought that North Ballarat’s ability to hit up was impressive.
“They were able to hit up at the footy quite easily at times and they gave their forwards every opportunity to do that,” he said.
North Melbourne listed forward Ben McKinley continued his consistent form as he kicked three goals on a tough day for Werribee’s forwards and Matt O’Dwyer (31 disposals) was a standout running off half back.
Bill Driscoll kicked four goals in his first senior game back after his overseas sojourn and acting captain Myles Sewell (23 disposals, 3 tackles) was best for the Roosters.
Week one of the finals sees the Tigers host Box Hill in a home Elimination Final on Saturday and whilst North Ballarat will face Williamstown at Box Hill City Oval on Sunday, with both games scheduled for a 2pm start.
Last Modified on 31/08/2011 14:51