Australian Football

Match Report

The final Saturday fixture was actually supposed to be a night match, but thanks to a disappearance of a good portion of its fanbase the Bulldogs faced the Blues at Playford Alive Oval at the traditional afternoon time slot. Much like the Redlegs and the Eagles, these two clubs have shared the spoils of their last 11 meetings with the Bulldogs' last win against Sturt in Round 16 being the difference maker. That match was certainly an improvement over the match previous to this one where they dropped their bundle at Unley in Round 10 where the current cellar dwellers dealt a 31-point loss to Centrals.

The Doggies were unsteady in front of goal early on, but would kick off to a 15-point lead by quarter-time after scoring 4.4 to 2.1. More inaccuracy followed in the second term, but the gap was widened to 37 points by the half-time break after Centrals added 5.6 to Sturt's 2.2. The third quarter wasn't as goal-plentiful as the last two, but the Dogs would still stretch their lead to 50 points after taking an extra 3.2 to Sturt's lowly 1.1. The visitors' only saving grace was their final term effort, but four goals to 3.1 would hardly give cause for the Blues' fans to wave their flags as the Dogs took a 45-point win. Despite this win though, several players returning from injury in the reserves are well on their way to a front-line position so some sacrifices could be made!

Luke Habel was named best for the Bulldogs, while the Blues named Joe Anderson as their best.