Australian Football

Match Report

We begin the weekend's action with the first of four Saturday afternoon games, the Bloods taking on the Bulldogs at the Hisense Stadium in Richmond. The last time these sides met, it ended in shocking fashion for the current cellar-dwellers. The Bloods looked like they were skipping off to victory at the Ponderosa in Round 2, leading by six straight kicks at half-time thanks to the Dogs' horrid kicking for goal with the board reading 2.8 to 9.3. The Bulldogs flipped the script and proceeded to kick 11 of the next 13 goals to win by 20 points. While the Bloods still haven't put a dub to their name this season, the Dogs had to wait until Round 11 for their next win. They did add a third to their record last week, scoring a point prior to the final siren against South at home while West were beaten by the Eagles. The Dogs were all over the Bloods early on, but inaccuracy on goal saw them lead by six points at quarter-time with a tally of 3.6 to three goals. At least two of those missed chances were absolute sitters from within 25 metres straight in front. That accuracy isses wasn't a problem in the second term, the bug transferring to the Bloods' camp who kicked 1.4 while the Dogs bagged 5.1 to take their advantage out to 27 points come half-time. The second half was a bit less showy from the Dogs, who were back to making some of their most rage-inducing mistakes. But as hard as the Bloods tried and try they did, impact on the scoreboard was lacking as Centrals held firm against most of the home side's challenges. The long break lead the Bulldogs held was cut down a couple of points, outscored 2.3 to 2.1 in the third quarter to reduce the gap to 25 points by the final change. West continued to pepper their goals in the final term, but a return of 1.5 wasn't going to stop the visitors from claiming a fourth win in 2022. Much like the Dogs in the opening term, there were two absolute prime chances for the Bloods with an unguarded goal square begging to be exploited. The Dogs scored an additional 2.3 to take out a 29-point win, elevating themselves to eighth position. Ethan East scored four of the 12 goals, but Justin Hoskin was Centrals' best afield with 28 disposals, six marks and four tackles. For the Bloods it was Patrick Fairlie once again with 31 disposals as well as nine tackles and clearances.