Carlton's VFL affiliate the Northern Bullants beat Sandringham by four points on Sunday at Princes Park in a nail-biting match that went down to the final siren.

It was the team's eighth win for the season, and leaves them placed at eighth on the ladder with four rounds remaining. 

Assistant coach Matthew Lappin shares his thoughts on the match and how some of the Carlton-listed players performed.

IT WAS a close game on Sunday. Melbourne-listed ruckman Jeff White had a shot on goal to win the game for Sandringham, but he missed it and we capitalised and hung on.

We were in control of the game by half time due to a really good second quarter, but Sandringham hit back at us in the third to set up a real struggle in the last quarter.

We were coming off some games that we thought we should have won, and with Sandy a couple of places above us on the ladder the win was really important. We virtually swapped spots and we're back in the eight for now.

They had a good side in with a few Melbourne players in, like White, Nathan Jones and Adem Yze, so the win gives us confidence. We had some senior players back as well and it was a game of high standard.

For us, Ryan Houlihan returned from injury. He got through just over two quarters and performed well. He's a very skilful player and his class shone through at the VFL level. Ryan was happy to get a run under his belt and after completing a full game this week, will push for senior selection.

Adam Bentick played his first game back after coming down from the seniors and he was solid.

Luke Blackwell was good and won a lot of the ball, and Cain Ackland, our star full forward, kicked seven goals – a brilliant performance. He's kicked a few big bags this season and opposition teams are finding him hard to match in the goal square.

Jason Saddington was solid again, but pretty much every player contributed to the win. Out two young ruckman, Sam Jacobs and Aisake O'hAilpin, went up against Jeff White and handled themselves reasonably well. I'm sure it will prove an invaluable experience for them.

Mentally, the win was a real positive. We were flat after the losses to Bendigo and Box Hill but now our season is alive again.

We play Coburg this week. They are one game ahead of us on the ladder so it is another 'eight-point game'. If we win we can take their spot so it's crucial to get a good result.

NORTHERN BULLANTS  4.0 9.5 10.9 13.13 (91)
SANDRINGHAM              4.3 5.4 11.7 13.9 (87)

GOALS
Northern Bullants: C. Ackland 7, D. Boundy 2, A. Bentick, R. Jackson, A. Gianfagna, L. Blackwell
Sandringham: C. Liddell 3, N. Sautner 2, J. White 2, P. Summers, J. Meesen, G. Martyn, T. Dean, N. Jones, C. Waller

BEST
Northern Bullants: C. Ackland, J. Bannister, L. Blackwell, J. Vansittart, A. Bentick, J. Saddington
Sandringham: J. White, J. Frawley, A. Biddlecombe, A. Yze, T. Dean, C. Waller