Australian Football

Match Report

First up in the Sunday afternoon action at Adelaide Oval, it was the cut-throat 1st Semi-Final between the Double Blues and the Bulldogs. In the 1st Semi-Final, these clubs have played in a collective 29 games with the Blues playing 21 for a 12-9 win-loss record and the Dogs appearing in nine for five wins. Against each other this was just their second meeting, the Bulldogs were victorious against the Blues by 27 points back in 1971 which was their first foray into a finals series. In doing so, Centrals brought to a halt the Sturt machine that had won the previous five premierships. The Dogs haven't ever won the title from this position, but the Blues have on two occasions. The first was in 1932 when they downed the Magpies and defeated North Adelaide in the decider, then in 1976 against Norwood before they overran Port in the Grand Final. In the records department, Sturt's 1983 score of 24.7 (151) is second highest to North's 1990 tally of 23.14 (152). The Bulldogs' record is far less impressive, the biggest winning margin coming at their expense at the hands of the Roosters in 2012, a gap of 88 points. Their most recent appearances saw the Dogs victorious by five point against the Magpies in 2015, while the Blues were sent packing out of 2014 thanks to a 68-point hiding from the Panthers.

The Blues had the better of the Bulldogs for the home and away season, starting with a 17-point victory at Elizabeth in Round 9, then a 31-point win at Unley in Round 14. The Blues premiership was given a shake-up by the Magpies last week, a last ditch comeback thwarted in the final term while the Dogs disposed of the Redlegs in similar fashion to 2015. Both sides spurned a few opportunities each, the Blues getting the scoring started before the Bulldogs bit back in the opening quarter for a score of 3.4 to 2.4 in favour of Sturt. The Dogs continued to have goal-kicking issues in the second term, but the Blues didn't truly take full advantage of Centrals' wayward shooting. Sturt kicked three goals without a miss, the Dogs scored 2.4 as the margin crept out to eight points by the half-time break. Some of the form that the Bulldogs have shown during the last few rounds of home and away football became a lot more visible in the third term, the Double Blues lead cut back to just a single straight kick by the final change as the Dogs kicked 5.2 to 4.2, the gap was down to just two points. Unfortunately for the Dogs, the cleaner play by the Blues would see them fall short in the end. Centrals pushed and pushed, but more inaccuracy brought an end to their year as the Blues added 3.2 to 2.3 to win by seven points. 

James Battersby was named best for Sturt, the Dogs named Josh Glenn as their best afield.