Australian Football

Match Report

For the third match for the round we're now off to the Maughan Thiem Hyundai Oval in Woodville, the Eagles facing the Bulldogs in a clash of former Grand Final rivals. In last year's encounters, the Eagles and the Bulldogs each scored victories away from their home grounds. In the 2017 season opener, the Eagles swooped into Elizabeth and took a 47-point win, but it was the Dogs that were one of the instruments of the Eagles' eventual downfall after they won by 20 points in Round 18. They both came out winners from last week, with the Eagles having a tough hit-out against a then-plucky Bloods. Accuracy issues were a continuing concern for Centrals, who would find themselves down by 10 points at the first change. But that deficit would blow out to almost eight goals by half-time, the Eagles scoring 6.3 to a lousy two behinds to set-up a 47-point lead at the break. It would prove to be the game-breaker for the Eagles, but that didn't mean the Dogs were totally finished. Poor shooting on goal would continue to plague the Doggies, but by three quarter-time that half-time gap would be reduced to 32 points after they scored 4.6 to 2.3. There wasn't going to be a grand comeback in the end, despite the Dogs outscoring the home side 2.3 to 1.4 the damage was already done as the Eagles secured a 27-point win. 

James Boyd was back to haunt his former club with his best afield honours for the Eagles, the Dogs named Kyle Presbury as their best.