PORT THUMP BULLANTS AT CRAMER STREET
BY JUSTIN COOPER
PORT Melbourne continued their impressive season under new coach Gary Ayres on Sunday afternoon, defeating the Carlton-aligned Northern Bullants by 51 points at Preston City Oval.
The Borough started very well with a 4 goal to 1 first quarter, as they took hold of a handy 23 point lead into the first break.
The Bullants were a lot better in the second term as they kicked 3 goals to Port’s 4, but they still trailed the Borough by a significant margin of 28 points at the main break.
It was a tight third term which saw Port kick only 2 goals to the Bullants’ 6 behinds, as the Borough took a very comfortable 37 point buffer into the final term.
The Bullants dug deep at the three-quarter-time break after a spur-on from coach David Teague, but only managed to put on 3 goals to Port’s 5 on the scoreboard as the Borough ran out comfortable 51 point winners.
The final scoreline reading, Port Melbourne 15.13 (103) to the Northern Bullants 7.10 (52).
Best players for the visitors included forward David Pitt (4 goals), ruckman and former Blue Dylan McLaren, Ryan McMahon (2 goals), while former Carlton listed trio Luke Livingston, Sam Pleming and Cory McGrath were fantastic in defense, as was former Roo John Baird.
Players to play well for the luckless Bullants included Brent Bransgrove, assistant-playing coach Matthew Lappin (2 goals), while Carlton listed players Cain Ackland (2 goals), Andrew Walker (1 goal), Ryan Jackson, Shaun Hampson and defender Mark Austin were quite productive despite the disappointing loss.
In the reserves match earlier, it was the Northern Bullants who celebrated a 23 point victory over Port Melbourne.
The final scoreline reading, the Northern Bullants 10.13 (73) to Port Melbourne 7.8 (50).
Impressing for the home side included Jake Williams, Chris Taylor, Mitch Brewer, Adrian Totino, Zac Vansittart and Carlton listed player Aisake O’hAilpin.
Best players for the visitors did include Tom Sheldon, former Seagull Matthew Pearce, ruckman Levi Dare, midfielder Patrick Hassett, while talented trio Luke Kyriakidis, Jonathan Mullins and Wayne Schultz were also very good.
Next week in Round 13 of the VFL competition, Port Melbourne play host to the Essendon-affiliated Bendigo Bombers at TEAC Oval as the only Saturday game of the round while the Northern Bullants tackle Tasmania in an away game at Bellerive Oval on a Sunday.
Last Modified on 07/07/2008 16:16
