Australian Football

Match Report

There was just one Saturday afternoon game for the weekend as the action heads down south to the Flinders Uni Stadium in Noarlunga for the SANFL's "Distance Derby" and the Mayor's Cup game between the Panthers and the Bulldogs. The Panthers left it until late in their last clash with the Doggies at Elizabeth, going from leading by 15 points at the final change to running off to a 44-point victory. The on-and-off (mostly off) game of the Dogs was well and truly on display as they pushed the Panthers, who were having a difficult time finding the big sticks but then blasted off in the last term. The Panthers put a three-week funk behind them last week with their 41-point win against the premiers at Brighton Road, while the Dogs finally broke through for their first win of the year. 

An uncharacteristically fine August day greeted the 1000 SA footy-heads in attendance as South opened with a 5.7 to 2.1 opening term to lead by four goals at the quarter-time siren. The Dogs managed to reel the deficit back to within a single straight kick by first half's end, outscoring the Panthers 4.3 to 1.3. At the long break, South were still up but now it was back to one goal. The Dogs were pushing hard again, but as has been the case this season, sustaining the rage has been the problem and when play resumed, the Panthers class shone through once more. After evening the scores with the first goal of the third term after just two minutes, the Dogs were quickly back in a rut as the Panthers again like the first quarter, peppered their attacking zone for a return of 4.6 to Centrals' two goals. The gap was back out to four goals for the home side. The Panthers finished off with a 4.3 to 2.2 last term to win by 37 points and lay claim to the Mayor's Cup trophy for 2020. 

Ben Heaslip was South's best on ground with 23 disposals, five tackles and two goals, the Bulldogs named James Boyd as their best with 27 disposals and six marks.