Captain Carnell Sparks Coburg

Coburg Captain Nick Carnell has lead the Tigers to a 16 point victory over bottom placed Frankston kicking 7 goals at a windy Highgate Reserve on Saturday afternoon.

Carnell kicked 5 of his teams first 6 goals in an even first half which saw Frankston leading by a point before the Tigers prevailed to win 12.9 (81) to 10.5 (65) in a game which produced another Graham Polak concussion.

In a free flowing first quarter Frankston lead Coburg by 8 points after kicking with the wind and Carnell already had 3 goals to his name.

Frankston in search of just their second win of the season came out strong to start the second quarter registering the opening goal through Clifton Proctor.

The Dolphins took the ball the length of the ground following a Coburg behind and after a strong mark from Khan Haretuku 60 metres out he chipped over to Proctor who waltzed into an open goal.

A strong mark from Alex Rance who kicked to a Carnell lead gave Coburg their fifth of the game and Carnell his fourth after 15 minutes. Two minutes later he had his fifth following a strong ruck contest from Tyrone Vickery which allowed the captain to snap truly from 40 metres.

A long goal from Mark Baguley gave Franston their first of the third quarter before Graham Polak put Coburg in front after marking and goaling from 50 metres, this was followed by a terrific Robin Nahas snap across his body from the right forward pocket when he ran onto a loose ball inside 50.

The Dolphins replied through Tobias Thoolen after a good spell of pressure
but it was Nick Carnell who provided all the answers for Coburg when he made a strong tackle and goaled from the resulting free kick after the siren to extend Coburg's lead to 8 points at the last change.

The small crowd fell silent early in the last quarter when Polak who was bumped mid air by his Frankston opponent hit his head on the ground and had to be helped off by trainers with concussion.

This inspired the Tigers to go on with the game when Jayden Post roved beautifully and goaled from 45 metres in time on after a Robin Nahas centre clearance the margin was 10 points.

Nick Carnell iced the game when he took a strong mark 20 metres out and kicked his
7th goal in a fantastic individual performance to give Coburg a 16 point win.

Coburg Tigers 4.0 6.2 9.6 12.9-81
Frankston 5.2 6.3 8.4 10.5-65

Coburg Tigers
Goal Kickers: N. Carnell 7, J. Post 2, R. Nahas, G. Polak, B. Clifton
Best Players: N. Carnell, A. Rance, D. Rayson, S. Power, D. Gourdis, J. Kahlefeldt

Frankston
Goal Kickers: C. Proctor 3, T. Thoolen 2, L. Potts, M. Baguley, M. Collison, A. Simpson, R. Gabriel
Best Players: R. Gabriel, M. Baguley, M. Hibberd, M. Westcott, A. Simpson, L. Potts

Gulls too good for Bullants

After winning 6 of their past 7 games the Northern Bullants suffered a 73 point loss to ladder leader Williamstown in cool conditions at the NAB oval on Saturday afternoon.

A competitive first half between two form teams saw the Bullants trailing by only 15 points at half-time before Williamstown powered away kicking 13 goals in the second half to record a comfortable 23.12 (150) to 11.11 (77) victory and consolidate their position as VFL flag favourites.

Patrick Rose (6 goals, 9 marks, 14 disposals), and Matt Little (5 goals, 14 disposals), set up the win for Williamstown while Ben Davies in his 100th VFL game was fantastic across half-back with 28 disposals and goal.

Captain Brett Johnson again controlled the midfield stoppages with 22 possessions while fullback Peter Faulks laid a goal saving smother while holding Ash Arrowsmith to just one goal and managing to grab one of his own, further pressing his claims for another shot at AFL level.

In contrast it was a tough day for the Bullants with Jarrod McCorkell (22 disposals) solid in the middle as always, Mitch Robinson who was terrific in the first half and Steven Browne contributing 18 possessions each while ruckman Sam Jacobs added a goal and was handy around the ground.

Matt Little opened the scoring after nudging his opponent in the contest and running on to a loose ball to kick the Seagulls first, while a poor cross field kick from Matthew Grossman allowed Sam Jacobs to intercept and get the Bullants on the scoreboard soon after.

Two long bombs from Patrick Rose and Andrejs Everitt followed by an acrobatic snap from Matthew Panos in the goal square gave Williamstown the ascendency in a tight first quarter.

It was more of the same from Patrick Rose to start the second quarter, slotting a wonderful goal from 40 metres out deep inside the right forward pocket, followed by a great goal from fullback Peter Faulks who took possesion at half forward after running the length of the ground before steadying and drilling home from 50 metres.

A tackle from Matthew Panos on Mitch Robinson lead to Matt Little kicking he's second stretching the margin 23 points.

Brad Fisher dribbled through the Bullants first of the quarter before the battle of the Davies took place with Williamstown's Ben Davies effort, who broke through a tackle and kicked truly from 50 metres, quickly answered by the other Davies, (Carlton listed Marcus), who did the same for the Bullants kicking a lovely goal from 50 out on the run.

The two top ranked attacks in the VFL lived up to their billing with the game turning into a shootout as both teams went goal for goal in an entertaining end to the first half finishing with a great snap around the body from the Bullants Tyson Thomas and an Ash Arrowsmith goal to reduce the margin to 15 points at the main break.

The game was effectively over as a contest after the Seagulls slammed home 7 goals in a lopsided third quarter which included a special effort from Matt Little for his fourth running towards the pocket and dribbling home from tight on the boundary line.

Glenn Grigic on debut for the Bullants laid two great tackles which lead to an Ahmed Saad goal but is was all one way traffic as Rose added 3 for the quarter and stretched the margin to 46 points at the last change.

Williamstown ran away with the game in the last quarter kicking 6 goals to 2 with Matt Little and Patrick Rose adding their fifth and sixth goals respectively while Levi Casboult and Ryan Gale added a goal each for the Bullants in junk time.

However it was not enough to prevent Williamstown from recording a comfortable 73 point victory and cementing their position at the top of the ladder.

Northern Bullants 3.1 7.5 9.9 11.11-77
Williamstown 4.2 10.2 17.7 23.12-150

Northern Bullants
Goal Kickers: B. Fisher 2, A. Saad 2, J. Anderson, S. Jacobs, L. Casboult, R. Gale, T. Thomas, M. Davies, A. Arrowsmith
Best Players: J. McCorkell, M. Robinson, S. Jacobs, S. Browne

Williamstown
Goal Kickers: P. Rose 6, M. Little 5, B. Jolley 2, A. Hooper 2, M. Panos 2, B. Davies, L. Jones, P. Faulks, D. Stretton, M. Cravino, A. Everitt
Best Players: P. Faulks, P. Rose, M. Little, T. Callan, B. Davies, B. Johnson, A. Everitt

'Hand of God' returns in Uruguay V Ghana quarter-final

LATE drama emerged in last nights Word Cup qtr final between Uruguay and Ghana at Soccer City stadium in Johanesburg as Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez claimed "I have the 'Hand of God' now" after his deliberate, last minute, extra time handball denied Ghana a history making place in the semi-finals.

Suarez was red-carded by Portuguese referee Olegario Benquerenca for acting as goalkeeper in denying young striker Dominic Adiyah's header, which was bound for the back of the net, and Ghana the chance of becoming the first African team ever to reach the World Cup semi-finals.

Ghana were given another opportunity with the penalty however Asamoah Gyan sent his kick - the last of the game - crashing into into the crossbar silencing the vuvuzuela's and sending the game to a shoot-out where the South Americans prevailed 4-2 .

The chance came about after a free kick in the dying seconds was swung into the Uruguayan the penalty area where a scramble ensued with Steven Appiah's close range strike cleared off the line before Suarez parried the header and a penalty was awarded.

Earlier, Sulley Muntari who was almost sent home last week for discplinary reasons, brought the game to life with a swerving long range effort from 30 yards which caught Fernando Muslera out and gave Ghana the lead seconds before half-time.

Man of the match Diego Forlan provided the equaliser on 55 mins with a beautifully crafted free-kick which swung in from the edge of the penalty area beating Ghana keeper Richard Kingson at his far post as Uruguay enjoyed the better chances in an open second half.

Forlan continued to provide headaches for Ghana as he's cross was met by Suarez, who lashed the ball into the side netting on 62 minutes, and later forced a save from Kingson after a speculative free kick from long range on 77 minutes.

Mauricio Victorino was caught napping in possesion gifting Gyan and Ghana a chance on 72 minutes however Muslera saved and a close range strike from Luis Suarez tipped over sharpley by Kingson in the dying minutes ensured the game would go to extra time.

The game reached climax in an amazing last minute which saw Suarez dismissed and the Gyan penalty smashed into the crossbar.

Fernando Muslera saved from Ghana captain John Mensah who sidefooted his shot off one step straight at the Uruguay keeper and again from Dominic Adiyah to send La Celeste through to the semi-finals for the first time since 1970 where they will meet Holland.