North Ballarat Roosters were beaten by a more experienced Essendon side on Saturday, but it was not lacking in character as it fought out its Victorian Football League match in difficult circumstances.
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In what was a tough day for the Roosters, they played with just two men on the bench in the second half as it went down by 38 points.
Brenton Payne exited the game early with a cork, Matt Johnston copped a heavy knock to the ribs, Louis Herbert injured his achilles while Matt Austin was a late withdrawal as the Roosters went down 20.17 (137) to 15.9 (99).
Coach Marc Greig said while he was disappointed to allow Essendon the early ascendancy, the fight shown by his undermanned team had to be applauded.
“We were absolutely rapt with our second half...we couldn’t of actually got any more out of the players in the second half,” Greig said.
“I’m not all about good efforts, but playing an AFL team and to have three guys down in the second half – they were fantastic with their workrate.
“To kick 15 goals with two players left on the bench, the boys were off their feet but they kept going – we were really pleased.”
Essendon jumped the visitors with three goals in the first six minutes and the Roosters were unable to make any significant inroads to the deficit for the remainder of the match.
Ben McNiece kicked his first goal of the day in the latter stages of the third quarter to extend the margin to 40 points and fears of another unacceptable blow-out loomed.
But to the group’s credit it rallied and refused to lie down.
While Greig said it could not expect to win matches after giving sides such an easy head start, the spirit displayed was heartening.
“The first quarter we were really disappointed with. I think they had three goals on the board within the first six or seven minutes.
“They had to fight and they certainly did that. We’ve had some heavy losses this year and it quite easily could’ve turned into 90 points...but they showed a bit of grit and there’s always effort in what we’re trying to do.”
Matthew Leuenberger was an influential figure on the ground. The 204cm ruckman gave his onball unit first use and allowed the likes of Heath Hocking and Craig Bird to dominate.
Hayden Walters played his best game for the Roosters, kicking four majors and provided a constant presence in attack while Oliver Tate and late inclusion James Lukich were also among the best.
