A feast of goals in a high quality game of football gave the North Ballarat Rebels their first victory for the TAC Cup season against the Bendigo Pioneers at AUSTAR Arena on Saturday in front of a very large crowd.
The Pioneers came out running with two quick goals but North Ballarat made some changes to player match ups and then settled to answer with six goals in seven minutes with a combination of smart hands and clever use of the ball.
Andrew Hooper and Christopher Giampaolo opened the scoring followed by Will Young with using his mobility and strong marking across half forward adding two more.
A defensive error by the Rebels let the Pioneers in to ease the onslaught only to have Giampaolo and Lachlan Delahunty reply with two more just before the end of the quarter.
The game continued to be played at a fast tempo with both sides displaying their skills moving the ball at pace, kicking long and accurate disposal on both forward lines.
Jordan Roughead, Bryn Weadon and Hooper were playing well for the home side and when Giampaolo kicked his third goal North Ballarat held a handy five goal break at the half way point.
An early goal to Tyler George started the second half but the Pioneers lifted with four goals as North Ballarat made a few errors under pressure and four goals to the visitors from quick play on type game closed the game right up.
Bendigo continued to outplay the home side and experienced players Hooper, Weadon and Roughead battled hard as the two goals levelled the scores midway through the final term.
Ben Hayes retained the lead for the Rebels and two more goals to Young in a best on ground performance at half forward created some breathing space and put a stop on Bendigos momentum.
Another goal to the Pioneers was followed by Giampaolo’s fourth for the day gave the home side a hard fought win in readiness for next weekends encounter with the Gippsland Power.
North Ballarat Rebels 17.6 (108) d Bendigo Pioneers 13.13 (91)
Best. Will Young, Christopher Giampaolo, Andrew Hooper, Ryan McKenzie, Bryn Weadon.
Goals. Christopher Giampaolo 4, Will Young 4, Andrew Hooper 2, Ben Peters 2, Lachlan Delahunty 1, Tyler George 1, Ben Hayes 1, Jordan Roughead 1, Bryn Weadon 1.
Last Modified on 08/02/2009 14:46