NORTH Ballarat is into its fourth consecutive VFL preliminary final.The Roosters continued their push towards a third premiership in a row with a 32-point win over Casey Scorpions in a qualifying final at Port Melbourne yesterday.
North Ballarat has earned a week off and will meet the winner of the Port Melbourne and Box Hill Hawks clash in a preliminary final.
The 18.8 (116) to 13.6 (84) margin flattered the Scorpions.
The Selkirk Roosters led by 50 points into time-on in the last quarter before Casey added three goals in the space of three minutes.
North Ballarat broke the match wide open with a seven-goal second quarter as it improved its efficiency inside the forward 50-metre arc.
Despite dominating the opening term, the Roosters found themselves deadlocked in a low scoring affair at 1.4 apiece.
Three goals in four minutes provided the break they were searching for.
Steve Clifton provided much of the impetus.
Clifton, who had 11 tackles, has developed his outside game this season, being a major target for the Roosters at stoppages.
His natural strength though remains his physical power and ability to run the lines or break open a pack.
Casey had no answer to this aspect of his game.
Nick Couch has developed in a hurry for the Roosters as a hard nut.
The tougher it gets the better he gets, and he was another with Myles Sewell, and stopper Dan Feery to lead the midfield.
Feery put the brakes on Matte Fieldsend and then Ben Macreadie.
In defence, it was hard to fault the efforts of Nick Peters, Marc Greig, Cam Richardson and Matt Sharkey.
At the other end, Isaac Smith played beyond his experience.
He has played only a handful of senior games since crossing from Ballarat Football League club Redan, and impressed.
