The Northern Blues have been defeated by Sandringham at Ikon Park by 45 points.
After a fast start from Northern, the Zebras regathered to defeat the Blues, triumphing 9.9. (63) to 16.12. (108) in perfect football conditions at Ikon Park.
It was a heartbreaking result for the Blues, who fought hard all throughout the game: however, an inability to capitalise in key areas of the game ultimately brought about their downfall.
Despite coming into the game with a very inexperienced squad, boasting nine players with less than 10 VFL games, the way in which the Blues went about their game defied their age profile.
After kicking nine goals to one in the final term last week, the Zebras continued their trend of dominating the last half hour to romp to victory.
The Zebras scored 6.5 to 3.0 in the final term, registering a scoring shot from 78 percent of their entries inside 50.
Resilience was key for the Blues, who remained competitive and looked to be in the game up until the final quarter.
Brad Walsh led the disposals count, acquiring an impressive 26 for the game, followed by Jason Tutt with 23. Both Jack Johnston and Tom Wilson had 21 touches each.
Liam Jones played a fierce game, making his presence known in the contests when possible and utilising his large frame to assert his authority while also kicking a goal on the quarter-time siren.
Clint Jones dominated the inside of the contest, racking up 42 disposals alongside two goals for the Zebras. He was a major cause for concern for the Blues all afternoon.
Alongside Jones, Sandringham’s Tim Membrey also caused havoc throughout the whole game for the Blues. He slotted five goals, and had a different opponent each quarter.
Blues utility Dillon Viojo-Rainbow, who gathered 14 disposals, said the patchy performances have to stop if the Blues want to win game.
“In the past month of football there have been patches where we’ve scored heavily, but times can get really tough, and that’s when opposition teams kick away."
“Today, there were patches where they kicked away, and they’d get five to six easy ones compared to our one or two a quarter,” Viojo-Rainbow said.
“If we can fix up those purple patches, we’ll go a long way to putting together four quarters of footy I reckon.”
Viojo-Rainbow said the inconsistency of previous weeks came back to haunt the Blues, and was something that needed to be addressed in the final fortnight.
“We need to try and play four quarters of footy, not one or two quarters good quarters.”
“You don’t get a win playing at 80 percent, you get wins playing at 100 percent.”
Next week offers a massive challenge for the Blues, when they face the Box Hill Hawks on Saturday August 22nd at the Preston City Oval at 2pm.
NORTHERN BLUES 4.5 6.7 6.9 9. 9. (63)
SANDRINGHAM 2.1 8.4 10.7 16. 12. (108)
GOALS
NORTHERN BLUES: Johnson 4, Wilson, Jones, McDonagh, Walton, Yarran
