From www.localfooty.com.au
Reported by Paul Amy
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THE VFL has declared the waterlogged North Port Oval unsafe and shifted tomorrow's Round 15 VFL clash between Port Melbourne and Box Hill Hawks to the City Oval.

League officials inspected the ground this morning after Box Hill officials raised concerns about playing on it.

They quickly decided to take the match to Box Hill.

Stretches of water settled on North Port Oval last Saturday, with one long-time Borough supporter saying he had never seen it so heavy.

It's the third home game Port Melbourne has forfeited this season. Matches against Werribee and Sandringham were transferred earlier in the season due to work on the Norm Goss grandstand.

From the Geelong Advertiser
Reported by Nick Wade
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TONIGHT'S VFL match at Simonds Stadium could end up being a dress rehearsal for finals footy at the venue later in the year.

Geelong, currently top of the VFL ladder, would be eligible to host a VFL qualifying final at Simonds Stadium if it finishes in the top two at season's end.

That match would most likely be a Friday night blockbuster on August 30, working around the Geelong-Brisbane AFL match at the venue that weekend.

"If we did happen to nail a spot in the top two, it would be superb to have a final here," Geelong VFL coach Matthew Knights said.

"But a lot of things have to fall into place for that to happen.

"From a purely emotional point of view, it would be great to have a final here at Geelong in the VFL."

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* Picture thanks to Geelong Australia

From the Port Phillip Leader
Reported by Paul Amy
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Conditions were miserable. It was body-numbing cold and sheets of water covered the ground.

Port Melbourne supporter Ian Bryce has been watching the Borough since 1946 and couldn't recall North Port Oval being so heavy.

The ball rarely bounced. Mostly it skipped across the surface, like a pebble over a pond. Players often slipped as they pursued it.

But Port, with strength and desperation, put aside the rugged setting to give one of its most convincing performances of the season and hand its great rival Williamstown a thrashing in the Round 14 VFL match on Saturday.

The Seagulls had the best of the first term and led at quarter time. But they could add only four behinds in the following three quarters.

From VFL Website
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IN THE end it was inevitable. The moment a head count was called early in the third quarter and Frankston was found to have 19 players on the field; the Dolphins’ fate was sealed, writes David O’Neill.

Under AFL Laws of the game - rule 5.5, that stipulates a team will have its score reduced to zero if found with an extra player on the field, the host’s were never realistically in the hunt for the four points in Round 14 the Peter Jackson VFL.

The Dolphins were 5.8 (38) when the drama unfolded, leaving the three goals and five behinds they managed after the incident as their final score.

The change sees the Roosters’ winning margin altered from three points to 41 points, a handy percentage boost for a side sitting just outside the top eight.

But with most in attendance – including both playing groups – unaware of such a rule, the absorbing contest was left to run its path. And what a contest it turned out to be.