Match result: North Ballarat 11.12.78 defeated by Box Hill 12.11.83
Venue: City Oval
Conditions: Cold and wet and muddy and windy.
In action
- Aaron Black (10 disposals, 9 marks, 3.1)
- Trent Dumont (17 disposals, 5 marks, 5 clearances, 7 tackles)
- Brad McKenzie (22 disposals, 6 marks, 4 inside 50’s)
- Braydon Preuss (5 disposals, 16 hit-outs, 4 tackles)
- Lindsay Thomas (15 disposals, 4 inside 50’s, 1.3)
- Joel Tippett (19 disposals, 7 marks, 7 one-percenters)
- Max Warren (13 disposals, 7 one-percenters)
NMFC.com.au's best: Aaron Black
Story of the game
On a day where horrendous weather conditions were predicted, North Ballarat begun its clash against Box Hill on a surprisingly dry City Oval.
The looming heavy rain held off for the first half, and it was the Roosters who went into the main break with a handy seven-point edge. The visitors had kicked four consecutive goals in the second quarter to turn around a 13-point deficit.
Both teams were in the rooms a brief, powerful hailstorm, which ultimately changed the complexion of the game. The second half was pure wet-weather football as the rain continued to fall and goals dried up.
There was little in it all the way down to the wire, where it appeared Lindsay Thomas had kicked a game winning goal. But clinging to a one-point lead, the Roosters couldn’t clear their lines and Sam Grimley took a towering mark at the top of the goal square.
As the siren sounded, the Hawks’ forward made no mistake with the set shot and condemned North Ballarat to a heartbreaking five-point loss.
Points of interest
1. Aaron Black had a second quarter purple patch, kicking three consecutive goals. His effort and work rate remained impressive throughout the game, finishing with nine marks.
“Blacky was very good and his second quarter in particular was outstanding,” Senior Development Coach Gavin Brown told NMFC.com.au.
“He marked them on the lead, in the air, in the contest and got the ball at ground level.
“When the weather came in the second half he still competed and won his one-on-ones.”
2. In his first VFL game for almost three years, Lindsay Thomas was consistently dangerous at ground level.
“He had 1.3, one fell short and he had one shot taken away from him with a free kick reversal, so he was unlucky. He could have had six shots on goal and he was lively,” Development Coach Jarred Moore said.
“His pressure at times was really good, which is what he had to work on. It was a definite improvement there and he moved really well.”
3. Brad McKenzie continued his good form at VFL level for another week, racking up 22 disposals at a high efficiency rate.
“He kicked the ball particularly well,” Brown added.
“He’s backed up really well from previous weeks and he’s in a good vein of form. Everything about his game is going well at the moment.”
4. Joel Tippett was solid as a rock down back while also finding more of the ball than usual.
“Trying to get the footy is one area he’s been working on,” Brown explained.
“He was still very good defensively but he got more involved and took the ball outside 50 more.
“He got beaten last week in the contest but he bounced back strongly today.”
Most likely call-up: Aaron Black, Lindsay Thomas
Next week: Saturday July 18 v Essendon, 12:00pm at Windy Hill
