Australian Football

Match Report

Game number three for the weekend brings us from the outer south to the inner south and the leafy streets around the Wigan Oval in Unley where the Double Blues took on the Tigers. These sides faced each other on three occasions in 2022, with all three victories taken by the Bays. It started off in Round 2 at Oxford Terrace, the Blues squandering a six-kick lead mid third term to go down by eight points, then handed a 67-point hiding at Brighton Road in Round 10. The final word came in the Elimination Final, despite inaccuracy being a problem the Blues couldn't make any meaningful impact on the board themselves to go down by 16 points. Of course the Tigers season would come to an end the following week and then during pre-season, coach Brett Hand was shown the door and in came Darren Reeves. A relatively even-fought opening quarter ensued, only a pair of missed chances saw the Blues take a first break lead of two points with the board reading 2.2 to Glenelg's two goals. The second quarter seemed to drag on for the home faithful, the Tigers keeping the ball in their control for the bulk of the term but could only manage three behinds. But then three late majors to the Blues during time-on revived the terraces and would go into the long break with a 17-point lead. That fade out would prove quite costly for the Tigers, when play resumed they would continue to waste a swag of chances on goal including the first score that could have woken them back up. Instead, the Blues would extend their advantage going into the final change. They would add a further 4.4 to the visitors 2.4 to lead by 29 points at three quarter-time. A mid-final term trio of goals failed to spark the Tigers, the Blues shutting the door with a pair of late majors among their last quarter tally of 3.2 as they ran out 31-point victors and snapping a seven-game losing streak. Patrick Wilson was Sturt's best on ground, notching up 28 disposals, 10 tackles and kicking three goals including the last of the game. For the Tigers, it was Matt Snook with 27 disposals, eight clearances and six tackles.