Australian Football

Match Report

We begin the wrap with the first of four Saturday afternoon matches, the Bulldogs hosting the Double Blues at the My Money House Oval in Elizabeth. The Blues bagged all the home and away points on offer, starting with a 17-point win at Elizabeth in Round 9, then again at Unley by 31 points in Round 14. Even more heartbreaking for Dogs fans was their efforts in the 1st Semi-Final, going down by seven points to the eventual premiers. Both sides copped defeats two weeks ago, with the Dogs going down at Noarlunga while the Blues coughed up the points to the Eagles at home. 

As has been the case with Centrals lately, they had a good opening term of football where they scored 5.1 to the Blues' 2.2 to lead by 17 points at the first change perhaps signalling that the Blues' armour was breached quite well by the Eagles. But that on-and-off game that the Dogs have been producing would again haunt them, the Blues keeping the Dogs to just 1.1 whilst scoring 4.2 for themselves to lead by two points at the half-time break. Inaccuracy on goal by Centrals in the third term allowed the visitors to create a gap, they would score 1.4 to the Blues' 4.2 to be ahead by three goals at the final change. The Dogs fans would be left shaking their heads in the end, with seemingly no answers to their Jekyll & Hyde form. Sturt saved their best for last, kicking away to a 35-point win with a final term scorecard of 6.3 to 3.4. 

Former Bulldog Sam Colquhoun was named best for Sturt, the Dogs named state team member Travis Schiller as their best.