From Ballarat Courier
Reported by Melanie Whelan
Full Story Click Here
OUTMARKED and outclassed, North Ballarat had a lesson from the Victorian Football League’s undisputed best on Saturday.
A more efficient Port Melbourne, two men down after half-time, wore the Selkirk Roosters down by 64 points at Eureka Stadium.
The undefeated Boroughs have beaten all VFL top-eight contenders with North Ballarat completing the set.
Port power forward Patrick Rose booted 8.2 from 18 disposals in victory, highlighting the Boroughs strength in contested marking.
Rose booted three goals in the final term, including two when the Boroughs piled on five unanswered goals to emphatically seal the match.
The Boroughs’ precision was tough to fault, but their strength at the stoppages was where they did the most damage, setting up a 12-goal-to-four second half.
North Ballarat coach Gerard FitzGerald said his team got a close look at the league’s best.
The test would be how his players responded against another top-three rival, Northern Bullants next week.
“We knew how Port Melbourne was going to play and they played their well-structured game – we knew what we had to do, we just weren’t able to execute that well,†FitzGerald said.
“What we’ll be concentrating on hard is that final kick inside-50.
“Our measurements showed the amount of ball we had up forward was all right, we got the ball there, but what happened when we had that final kick inside-50 was inefficient.â€
FitzGerald said his players must analyse the game as a whole to unravel what went wrong.
North Ballarat made its mark early and gave the Boroughs headaches by quarter-time in a 3.1 to 1.4 opening term.
High pressure football forced the Boroughs into turnovers, including a kick out of defence that set Derick Micallef up for a handy major mid-way through the quarter.
The Boroughs sprang into action after the break with two goals to snatch the lead and momentum about three minutes into play.
Both back lines tightened.
Roosters defender Matt Sharkey took a couple of strong grabs to repel the Boroughs early.
At the other end, Port’s Jarrod Dalton controlled the back lines, cutting short the Roosters’ attack with 19 disposals from 12 marks.
The Boroughs shifted up a gear, despite losing injured midfielders Adam Bentick (ankle) and Toby Pinwill (eye).
They added a third goal, via Rose, and then powered out to finish the quarter with five goals to the Roosters’ one – a goal to Micallef after the siren.
The Roosters had their chances, struggled to convert but hung on two goals down at half-time.
Cam Richardson worked hard through the midfield with 18 touches to half-time alongside proven key playmaker Cruize Garlett.
Young Rooster Liam Hoy had a crack at Rose, who proved unstoppable against whichever match-up the Roosters threw at him.
Sharkey kept other dangerous forward Dean Galea to a modest 2.3.
