WERRIBEE suffered another disappointing loss in the VFL on Saturday, going down to North Ballarat by 17 points. The match had a distinctive North Melbourne flavour with both sides enjoying partial alignments with the Kangaroos in the AFL. Players were forced to deal with blustery conditions in Ballarat, and it was the Roosters that settled quicker, booting four goals in the opening term to open up a 15-point lead at the first change.Werribee struggled to make an impact on the scoreboard in the next two quarters with a combination of errant kicking in front of the big sticks and poor disposal going into the 50-metre arc, allowing the margin to grow. With the lead at 29 points at the start of the last quarter, Scott West’s men had no choice but to take the game on. After dominating the play and kicking four crucial goals, Werribee gave up a goal right when it couldn’t afford to as North Ballarat kicked a steadying major and went on to take the contest, 12. 12 (84) to 9.13 (67).
WILLIAMSTOWN got its top four aspirations back on track with a 36-point win against Frankston in round 15 of the VFL. However, the win was by no means easy with the Seagulls forced to fight for every goal in tough conditions. After trailing by eight points at quarter time, Williamstown enjoyed more of the play in the second quarter, but failed to convert in front of the big sticks.The Seagulls went into half time with 10 more scoring shots than the Dolphins, but equal on points with the scores locked at 26 apiece. Despite its lower ladder position, Frankston refused to go away and with four goals in the third term, took a two-point lead into the final change. Peter German’s men were able to rebound though, and finally started to enjoy some reward for effort. Williamstown kicked eight goals in the final quarter to seal the 14.20 (104) to 10.8 (68) win.
BASEBALL Victoria last week announced the new structure for the upcoming Summer League Division One season after months of negotiations with clubs over a proposed new premier league. With plans to implement the premier league shelved for another 12 months, clubs were asked to provide feedback on six possible options for the upcoming summer, with ‘Option Four’ winning the vote of the current Division One clubs.
This coming season the 12 clubs will be split into two conferences, dubbed the North West Conference and South East Conference, where each club will play opponents from its own conference three times along with two cross-conference games against the other six clubs.
Sunshine and newly-promoted Newport will both be part of the North West Conference.
The season, due to kick off on 6 October, will consist of 19 rounds of weekend games and eight mid-week rounds.
Structures for the lower Summer League divisions will soon be released to clubs.
THE Altona Gators’ season is now over in both men’s and women’s Big V basketball. Both teams, coached by Randy Shanklin, were already out of finals contention going into their final games of the year on the road against Sunbury on Sunday. However, with nothing to lose, both went down on the final day of the regular season. The women, who finished last with two wins for the year, were up first at the Jets’ Boardman Stadium and struggled to get going, ultimately suffering a heavy 79-47 loss. Altona’s men then engaged in a shootout, but still couldn’t outscore Sunbury on their way to an 88-102 loss. The Gators struggled to contain the Jets’ high-powered offence, with five of their players hitting double figures on the scoreboard. Four Gators, led by Daniel Ellul with 22 points and five rebounds, also hit double figures, but received little support from their teammates.
