North Melbourne key forward Aaron Black has put in a brilliant second half performance to help North Ballarat register its first win of the VFL season.
The Roosters used an eight-goal last quarter to defeat Collingwood by 47-points and Black was right in the thick of the action.
On a day not made for forwards, Black was an imposing. His last quarter particularly notable and although he finished the match with just two goals - it could have been many more if not for his selflessness. He also had 11 one percenters and five tackles which was a big focus of the sides play.
Trailing by a point at the last change, the Roosters and Black took heed of coach Gerald Fitzgerald's words in the huddle.
"It's the reliable and not the remarkable that's going to get us home today. It's time to grit your teeth and play 30 minutes of solid football to get the result that we need," he said.
Down the opposite end of the field to Black, Luke Delaney was impressive on the last line of defence. With a much taller opponent in Jarrod Witts, Delaney held him to just one goal and five disposals. He also offered reliable disposal when the Roosters rebounded; his nine kicks went at 100% efficiency.
In his second game for the North Ballarat senior side this year, Cam Richardson demonstrated he hadn't lost his ability to find the ball picking up 28 disposals. Right alongside him was Cruize Garlett, who collected 23 touches with a team-high 11 of those contested.
On the surface, it might seem Collingwood's 19 behinds had much to do with its loss, however just as much of it was due to North Ballarat's work in forcing the Magpies to enter their forward 50 from the 'dead' side of the ground. This made the tough even tougher and played a large part in Collingwood's inaccuracy.
Ben Mabon battled valiantly in the ruck against bigger, more experienced and stronger opponents and had 18 hit-outs, 10 possessions and 10 one per centers. Max Warren had a much quieter game than last week with 11 touches while Gavin Urquhart had the ball 17 times.
North Ballarat is back at Eureka Stadium next week to play last year's runners up, Williamstown. The game will be televised live on ABC.
Collingwood 3.6 3.12 6.17 7.19 (61)
North Ballarat 2.4 6.6 7.10 15.16 (106)
GOALS:
Collingwood: Williams Ferraro Ceglar Ugle Gault Witts Mooney
North Ballarat: Driscoll 4 George 3 Micallef 2 Black 2 Greig Towers Giampaolo Searl
BEST:
Collingwood: Wood Brown Wallace Williams Pendlebury Corr
North Ballarat: Towers George Sewell Richardson Delaney Driscoll
