The Courier |
North Ballarat City continued its winning ways on Saturday night, defeating Ballarat by 44-points under lights at a windy Eureka Stadium.
NORTH BALLARAT CITY 17.13 (115)
BALLARAT 11.5 (71)
North City were simply just too classy for their opponents, running away with the match in the second half, kicking eight-goals-to-four.
Jason McNamara was brilliant for the home side, while Tyler George and Michael Williams were also among North City's best.
Derek Micaleff and Marc Greig each kicked four majors for North City, while Shaune Lyle bagged three in an impressive cameo performance.
Ballarat jumped out of the blocks early against its fancied opponents, kicking the opening two goals of the match.
The Simonds Swans showed excellent skill in transitioning the ball from defence to attack, and as a result the Peach's North City defenders were under the pump early.
Ballarat opened up a 17-point lead midway through the term, and an upset looked on the cards.
But North City answered late in the quarter, cutting the margin to four-points at quarter time.
The intensity of the match was evident at the first change as tensions boiled over, with the sides clashing on the half forward flank following the siren.
A ferocious contest continued in the second. Rolling mauls of players chased desperately after the ball, every possession a contest, such was the tightness of the game.
Ballarat managed to kick the first goal of the quarter after some undisciplined play from North City resulted in a 50-metre penalty.
However this seemed to click the home side into gear, as they slammed through four-goals in seven-minutes to open up a 16-point advantage at half time.
The game was up for grabs at the beginning of the third, and it was North City who took the first blood, kicking the first two-goals to open up a handy lead halfway through the term.
North City were starting to get on top in the midfield battle, clearing the ball with precision from congestion and presenting their forwards with scoring opportunities.
North City were slowly but surely grinding the Swans out of the contest, and goals from Lyle and Tristan Cartledge late in the term saw them skip away to lead by 36 points at the final change.
