North Melbourne’s Aaron Edwards has spearheaded a potent North Ballarat forward line to give the reigning VFL premier its ninth win of the season.
Edwards kicked four goals in the first half of the match against Collingwood at Victoria Park but saved his best for last.
The Magpies hit the ground running in the second half and slammed through the first two goals, but Aaron Edwards stole back the momentum with an incredible screamer in the goal square.
Seconds after slotting through his fifth goal of the match, he took another strong mark and again kicked truly.
The last player to kick 100 goals in a VFL season in 2006, Edwards was far from finished and kicked his seventh straight goal in the final term.
“We’ve got a good relationship with North Ballarat,” Edwards said of his fellow North Melbourne listed players after the match.
“We do a lot with the Roosters’ boys and spend the night before games and training with them…we have got a great relationship which shows in the way we all play together out on the field.”
The powerful forward pulled down ten impressive marks, gathered 19 possessions and worked hard throughout the afternoon.
“It was a crunch game for us, I think we are nine and two now and looking good for the end of the season,” Edwards added.
“I just try and do my best every week.”
Leigh Harding’s (31 possessions, 10 tackles, 10 marks, 9 inside 50’s) intent was also undeniable and he would have been best on ground had Edwards not been on song. Harding provided an extreme amount of run for the visiting team across half back and around the stoppages.
His tackling was fierce and attack on the ball was superb. He also troubled the scorers with two goals and continued his stellar form in the VFL and again looked a class above the rest.
In his first game back from a broken wrist, Luke Delaney (9 possessions, 5 spoils) was very solid in defence and had plenty of tall opponents in Cameron Wood and Josh Fraser to contend with. He was joined by Josh Smith (26 possessions, 15 marks, 3 spoils) who has shown a lot since being asked to play a role down back.
David Hale (19 possessions, 9 marks, 15 hit-outs) spent time forward and also in the ruck also facing Wood and Fraser at times. He had several opportunities to score but inaccurate kicking let him down. He was eventually thrown down back to fill a hole and played an important role as Collingwood attempted to make a late charge.
Corey Jones (24 possessions, 6 tackles, 5 goals) was lively early up forward and moved onto the ball late in the game. But that didn’t stop the veteran from hitting the scoreboard after he roved a pack in the final term and booted his fourth goal. His fifth came several minutes later after consecutive fifty metre penalties which saw him advance to the goal square.
Marcus White (15 possessions) toiled hard and Brayden Norris (17 possessions, 5 tackles) also fought out a good game on the ball and the wing.
Gavin Urquhart (15 possessions) was relatively quiet after being dropped from the North Melbourne side during the week while Warren Benjamin (10 possessions) only managed to collect a handful of possessions.
North Ballarat: 20.11.131
Collingwood: 14.12.96
