North Ballarat Roosters led at quarter-time for the first time this season, but it was not enough to see it record its first Victorian Football League win of 2017.
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The Roosters brought the heat to Essendon early in the contest to skip out to a 13-point lead after 25 minutes, before a late Bombers goal.
North Ballarat’s opening quarter was the blueprint of its football brand.
Hunger for the contest, pressure on the ball-carrier resulting in one-on-one contests for its small forwards.
But the Roosters could not emulate the intensity for the remainder of the match.
The combination of Essendon lifting and North Ballarat lapsing, a 54-point win to the Bombers was the result.
Coach Marc Greig said while the first term was pleasing, it was hard to pinpoint an exact area that let the group down, rather an overall drop-off by the winless Roosters.
“We felt we came out and did jump them...we missed some easy shots, but it was positive to be in front,” Greig said.
“It’s definitely a range of things...it’s skill-level, decision-making, work-rate, role-playing – it was a bit of everything as to why we felt we let them kick so many goals in the third quarter.
“We let them back into the game, we certainly felt like we were on top.”
For Greig and the Roosters’ coaching staff, it is left to ponder a day that displayed both sides of the Roosters.
At times, North Ballarat played like a side that is more than capable of competing at this level. And at others, looked like a side incapable of penetrating forward 50 with any menace or genuine potency while struggling to control the AFL-experienced Bombers line-up.
Perhaps the honest answer is that this is the realistic output of a side that does not possess the same elements - whether it be in skill-level, depth of squad or elite training environment.
The questions raised following some early-season beatings was of effort, you cannot question the Roosters effort in recent months. But rather come to the question of, is it the age-old case of simply not having the cattle?
The Roosters take on the third-placed Box Hill Hawks next week and may be without two players for the clash.
Tony Lockyer ended the day on the bench with damage to his medial ligament and looks set to miss at least one week. While Matthew Johnston did his quad after an awkward tackling incident.