Australian Football

Match Report

The second game from the first week of the split round took place on the Sunday arvo at the inner northern venue of Prospect Oval, where old rivals in the Roosters and the Tigers faced off. Their last encounter had all the hallmarks of a classic, the Roosters triumphant by 10 points at Tiger-land in an all-out battle where the gap never exceeded any more than two or three straight kicks. The Roosters are all but assured of a finals spot and could still give the top three a shake depending on other results in this round and the next. They had to dig deep against the Crows, winning that shootout by 20 points. The Tigers jumped to sixth on the table with their win against West by 29 points. They could still make the top five, but only if South have a disastrous finish. This time around, this wasn't going to be as high scoring but also had some of those same signs of an almighty fight. 

The Tigers would go into quarter-time with a one-point lead, scoring 2.2 to the Roosters' 2.1 in the opening stanza. They would stretch that advantage to 11 points by the long break, it should have been more but their accuracy was well off, Glenelg scoring 3.5 to North's 2.1. There were no shortage of free kicks in this game, the 62 frees given perhaps suggesting some ill-discipline from both teams. The Tigers continued to keep the Roosters at arm's length in the third term, but lost a point off their half-time lead with North scoring 2.1 to two goals to lead by 10 points at the final change. It was an arm-wrestle in the final term, but the Roosters would fall short in the end despite outscoring the Tigers. North's final shot at victory was rushed through, their 2.2 to Glenelg's 1.1 found them three points short in the end.