Match result: North Ballarat 8.6.54 defeated by Sandringham 11.15.81
Venue: Eureka Stadium
Conditions: Gloomy overhead but a surprising lack of cold and wind

In action

- Shaun Atley (20 disposals, 6 clearances)
- Aaron Black (8 disposals, 2 goals)
- Sam Durdin (9 disposals, 7 spoils)
- Taylor Garner (11 disposals, 7 one percenters)
- Brad McKenzie (13 disposals, 5 clearances, 5 one percenters)
- Aaron Mullett (26 disposals)
- Braydon Preuss (9 disposals, 19 hit-outs, 6 one percenters)
- Max Warren (11 disposals, 10 one percenters)

RELATED: Werribee Report Card

NMFC.com.au's best:

Shaun Atley

Match ups & player roles:

- Black v Tom Lee
- Warren v Ahmed Saad
- Atley mixing between wing and midfield
- Mullett mainly on a wing and half back

What the coach said - Gerard Fitzgerald:

Quarter-time
North Ballarat 1.1.7 trail Sandringham 4.7.31

"Drive your standards and drive your expectations. The one percenters are massive. Between the arcs we're looking to go and play urgent. These are the sort of conditions that'll favour the team that gets length on their kicking."

Three quarter time
North Ballarat 5.5.35 trail Sandringham 8.12.60

"The opposition has had 24 marks (in the third quarter). Bring that down by busting your gut and working hard like we know you can. Run the ball and take your space. Your forwards want quick movement and space to advantage."

Story of the game

After two consecutive heavy losses, North Ballarat returned home to face a Sandringham outfit that was riding high after an impressive win against Werribee last weekend.

The Roosters were jumped early and headed to the first break trailing by four goals. However the resilience of the team came to the fore as it refused to be blown away and stayed in the game.

Three consecutive goals in the last quarter narrowed the deficit to only nine points and it appeared that the home side was about to overrun Sandringham. But the visitors settled and kicked away again to finish victors by 27 points.

Points of interest

1. In his first game of VFL since 2011, Shaun Atley was impressive with 20 disposals and six clearances.

RELATED: Atley and Development Manager Ben Dyer on his performance

2. Over the last few weeks, Aaron Mullett has been able to find plenty of the ball without his tackling pressure being all the way back to 100 per cent.

That issue appeared to be just about rectified on Saturday as he was able to stick his tackles in amongst amassing a team-high 26 disposals.

"His focus today were no missed tackles and making sure he was strong in every contest," Development Manager Ben Dyer said.

"Today he was much better in that respect. We know what he can bring offensively so his defensive side was good today."

3. After playing a half last week, Taylor Garner's game time increased to three quarters this week and he passed the test with flying colours.

He was able to win several one on one contests that required a foot race at full speed, testing out the hamstring which kept him out of action for so long.

"He just made things happen. Even when we didn't have control of the ball, he was still having an influence," Dyer said.

"Like last week, when he had ball in hand he looked composed and that he had time. That's often the characteristic of a pretty good player."

4. Aaron Black kicked two of the Roosters' eight goals as he seeks to recapture the form that made him a lock in the North Melbourne side.

"In the first half he found himself just a kick and a half away from the ball, and with the heavy conditions the ball wasn't coming down perfectly to his advantage," Dyer said.

"After half time he started to come higher and when the ball was at ground level you saw a bit of that agility that he brings and he ended up kicking two for the game."

5. Max Warren had an enthralling battle with St Kilda-listed Ahmed Saad all afternoon. The Kangaroo more than held his own, having to defend more than 60 inside 50 entries by Sandringham.

"He had Saad under wraps for most of the day but with that sort of opponent, all he needs is a few looks at it and he'll kick a few," Dyer said.

"Saad's goals; one was from a high tackle not against Max, and the other was when he was defending someone else. Max was able to keep Saad in front of him and deny the space in behind."

Most likely call up: Shaun Atley
Next week: v Geelong at Simonds Stadium, Saturday 13 June, 12:15pm