Sandringham crafted a 51-point turnaround to defeat the Northern Blues by 13 points at Trevor Barker Beach Oval on Sunday afternoon.

Leading by 38 points midway through the third quarter, the Blues went on to concede ten of the last 12 goals of the match, despite distinct wins in the hit outs (72-33) and tackles (74-37).

Few could’ve foreseen the Zebras’ resurgence after a team-lifting goal crafted by Dylan Buckley and Tom Bell pushed the advantage to over six goals at the 18-minute mark of the third term.

For three-and-a-half quarters it was more or less one-way traffic for the Blues, led by Bell who finished with 26 possessions (17 contested), 11 clearances and a goal.

Bell was ably supported by Andrew Collins who fulfilled a different role off half back, finishing with 24 quality disposals and five inside 50s.

Up front, Levi Casboult returned to form with four goals, spearheading a three-prong power forward attack alongside Luke Mitchell (three goals) and Sam Rowe (one goal).

Defenders Aaron Joseph (23 disposals) and Matthew Watson (22 disposals) were prolific ball-getters, yet it was to little avail as the Zebras shared the load with seven players kicking multiple goals.

The last quarter saw a goal-for-goal shootout before Sandringham took advantage of 35 second-half inside 50s and a win in the clearances (38-37) to get the job done.

Speaking to carltonfc.com.au post-match, Collins pointed to Northern’s bleeding of goals late in quarters as a critical factor in the loss.

“We had too many lapses in concentration and got scored against in red time a fair bit,” Collins said.

“I think structurally we were okay. They got on top in the contested footy and clearance departments.

“That put a lot of pressure on our defenders with their quick, direct ball movement.

“We’ll lick our wounds for a day or two, but the focus has to be on not letting our fatigue levels affect our concentration levels.”

After starting the season with three straight wins, the Blues head into a league-wide bye next weekend in fifth position on the VFL ladder.

They will host North Ballarat at Visy Park on Saturday, May 18 at 2pm.

SANDRINGHAM          2.1       7.4       13.6                 20.10. (130)

NORTHERN BLUES     4.4       10.7     15.8                18.9.   (117)

GOALS: Casboult 4, Mitchell 3, Totevski 2, Buckley 2, Menzel, Bell, Rowe, Wilson, Taglieri, Thomas, Lambert

BEST: Bell, Lambert, Collins, Casboult, Meese, Joseph

Matthew Lodge covers Northern Blues games for Carltonfc.com.au. You can follow him on Twitter: @MatthewSLodge