NORTH City celebrated a historic first win in the Bendigo Football League in June 2007.

The Northies, a Ballarat-based club, were only in the BFL for a couple of seasons but when they beat Kangaroo Flat by close to 14 goals a sequence of 24 straight losses, dating from Round 1 2006, was broken.

It was Round 7 eight years back and the victory catapulted North City off the bottom of the ladder, relegating the Roos to the cellar.

And it was the first time in 25 BFL games the Northies had kicked a score above 100 points in total in any game.

Understandably the reaction of the coaches was like polar opposites.

"It's a great feeling .... it's a lot better than the feeling we've had every other week," elated Northies' coach Shane McCarty said.

"We had some really great performances against some of the better sides earlier in the year and their experience might have got on top of us and worn us down.

"But today we had a four quarter performance and 21 contributors."

Flat playing coach John Rombotis, an ex-AFL player, said the Roos did not have one clear winner anywhere on the ground.
"I just can't believe the insipid effort. North City just didn't stop running all day.

"I told our players before the game that ability for ability I reckoned we were better then them and I also told the boys it was a great opportunity for us.

"But then I just couldn't believe what I saw out there," an exasperated Rombotis said.

To make matters worse, Rombotis was sitting in the change rooms icing his shoulder when he was asked to reflect on the game.

He wasn't told, but he probably read it in the Bendigo Advertiser on the Monday anyway, that going down to the Northies was the Roos' 68th loss in 73 games from the start of the 2003 season.

APART from captain Chris Harrington, sidelined with a hamstring complaint, the Roos fielded all their big-name players.

Rombotis, assistant coach Marty Warry and Ty Zantuck -– all former AFL players --- along with Ty's bro. Trent Zantuck were in the Green and White 21.

The Roos were also able to field Bendigo Bombers-listed players Chris Wilmot and Daniel Manning.

Kangaroo Flat kicked the first goal of the game through Ty Zantuck at the eight-minute mark. Then after Dean Romeril snagged the Northies' first a minute later, the Roos trailed for the rest of the afternoon.

Concentration and application weren't key aspects for the Roos. They gave away seven 50-metre penalties, five of which resulted in goals, and then conceded another nine last quarter free kicks as frustration, tiredness and despair set in.

The Northies led by just 14 points at quarter time, but the writing seemed to be already on the wall for the Roos.
North City dominated out of the centre, its players used the ball far better on the narrow spaces of Dower Park and they exploited Kangaroo Flat's lack of pace.

The Northies put the foot down in the second quarter. They consistently found free players inside attacking 50, made full use of the Roos' lack of accountability and added 7.3 to two goals to lead by 47 points by the main break.

NORTH City completely buried the Roos in the second half slamming home 11 goals to five to win by a massive 82 points.
Sixteen-year-old North Ballarat Rebels' player Daniel Ross-Smith booted four majors --- all in the first half --- while the lively Dylan George added four, three of which he slotted in the all-important third term.

Running players Andrew Leahy, Calvin Paine (three goals), pint-sized 16-year-old Tyler George, Nick Sullivan and in-form skipper Adam Richardson were in great touch all match.
The Northies murdered the Roos in the stats. department. They amassed 63 entries into their forward 50 compared with a meager 36 for the Roos.

Despite Nick Lang's presence in the ruck for the Roos, Scott Howard and Nathan Hobson were on top in the big man battles. They fed Leahy and company, while in the back half Bernard Wilson, Kyle Baddeley, Cameron Richardson (who started on Ty Zantuck) and Ben Beaston held the Roos to less than 10 goals.
Zantuck was reported for allegedly striking Adam Beattie in the second quarter.

As well as Rombotis who played forward, back and midfield, the only other Roos worth a mention were winger Ronnie Wicks who gathered plenty of possessions and Lang, who at least made the rucks a contest against Hobson and Howard.
It was a far cry from the Northies very first home game in the BFL against Eaglehawk, played 16 months earlier -- in April 2006 at Ballarat's City Oval.

Led by Kain Robins (47 possessions) and Brady Herdman (35, possessions, 13 marks) the Two Blues won by 88 points: 23.20 (158) to 10.9 (69).

GISBORNE clung to top spot and its undefeated record after holding off a spirited challenge from South at the QEO.
In a tough, low-scoring slog, the Dogs led by three goals at half-time (5.3 to 2.3) and seven points at the last change (6.7 to 5.6).

The Bloods had no one, bar Dayne Frew, to kick their goals and he ended the game with four of South's seven.

In contrast the Gardiner Reserve Bulldogs shared the load around with Shane Davis and Darren Farrugia booting a couple each. Matt Fitzgerald, Jason Duff-Tyler, Ty Elliott and Adam Pokrovsky all nailed majors.

Gisborne coach Marcus Barham said the QEO win meant a lot to the players, and to his club.

"There is a steely resolve within this team no matter who plays for us," he said.

Bloods' playing coach Rick Barham said his players had allowed Gisborne to gain the ascendancy in the first half. "We let ourselves down although our intensity did really lift in the second half."

Coburn added that Brad Wright's performance against Gisborne skipper Luke Saunders had been outstanding. "Brad has a lot of athleticism and is rated very highly within our club," said Coburn. Marty Shadbolt was named South's best overall.

EAGLEHAWK was another leading club which just managed to get over the line. The Hawks accounted for Golden Square by only 7 points at Canterbury Park.

A seven-goal burst in the second term was the catalyst for the Two Blues' victory although the Dogs outscored the home side seven goals to five after half-time.

Matt 'Tooley' O'Toole kicked the Dogs to a 14-point lead with the first goal of the second stanza before the Hawks got moving.

Coach Derrick Filo slammed home two majors in quick succession and then gave off two others to teammates in better positions as the home crowd fired up.

Then fledgling Hawk Marc Reiffell turned in the best 10 minutes of his senior career with three majors to hand Eaglehawk a 31-point lead close to the main break.

The Bulldogs played arguably their best football for 2007 in the first half of the third quarter, adding four goals to one. The Dogs closed to within one, straight kick.

But unlike the Hawks the Square couldn't maintain their intensity for a full quarter as the home side steadied and took a three-goal buffer into the last change.

Late last quarter goals to Square's Darren Walsh and Leigh Davies made up for costly early misses in the final term and the two majors served to slash the final margin to seven points.

North City 3.4 10.7 16.8 21.10 (136)
Kangaroo Flat 1.2 3.2 6.4 8.6 (54)
Goals – North City: D. Ross-Smith 4, D. George 4, C. Payne 3, A. Beattie 2, A. Kickett 2, E. Den Ouden 2, D. Romeril 2, T. George, C. Richardson. Kangaroo Flat: Trent Zantuck 2, John Rombotis 2, M. Warry, Ty Zantuck, R. McNish, C. Wilmot.
Best – North City: A. Leahy, C. Payne, T. George, E. Den Ouden, A. Richardson, S. Howard, N. Sullivan. Kangaroo Flat: J. Rombotis, R. Wicks, N. Lang, A. Wight, T. Holt.
Other Round 7 final scores: Sandhurst 14.10 (94) def. Maryborough 8.10 (58); Gisborne 8.11 (59) def. South Bendigo 7.8 (50); Eaglehawk 14.9 (93) def. G. Square 12.14 (86) and Castlemaine 20.12 (132) def Kyneton 16.12 (108).
A grade netball : Gisborne 35 def. South Bendigo 26; Sandhurst 66 def. Maryborough 54; Kangaroo Flat def. North City by 40 goals; Castlemaine def. Kyneton by 2 goals; Eaglehawk 48 def. Golden Square 43.
Top Five ladder positions – Footy: Gisborne 7 wins, 0 losses, 28 pts. (272.5%); Eaglehawk 7 wins, 0 losses, 28 pts. (187.3%); Square 5 wins, 2 losses, 20 premiership points; South 4 wins 3 losses, 16 pts. (142.2%); Hurst 4 wins, 3 losses, 16 pts. (122.5%).
Netball Top 5: Sandhurst 7 wins, 0 losses, 28 pts; Eaglehawk 6 wins, 1 loss, 24 pts; Square 5 wins, 2 losses, 20 points; Gisborne 4 wins, 2 losses, 1 draw, 18 premiership pts; Maryborough 4 wins, 2 losses, 1 draw, 18 points.

Richard's tips for Round 7: Castlemaine by 5, Storm by 61, Sandhurst by 19, South by 9 (at QEO) and Square by 26.
2015 tally to date: 26.

By Richard Jones