Australian Football

Match Report

Now it's off to game three for the Saturday arvo, which takes us to the mid north-west of the city and into the Maughan Thiem Kia Oval in Woodville for the encounter between the Eagles and the Bulldogs. There was a share of the spoils from their two outings last year with the away side coming up victors on both occasions. It began in Round 5 at Goodman Road, with the Eagles winning by 50 points, then in Round 11 at Oval Avenue where the Dogs put on a rare showing to win by almost six goals. The Eagles' win at Elizabeth came on the back of a six goal to one second term after leading by 13 points at quarter-time and the only way was up. But the shock result at Woodville was one of Centrals' best performances of 2022, with the Eagles' forwards repeatedly mis-firing at the sticks. The Eagles second term cost them at Unley last week, while the Dogs dropped their bundle in the final term against Westies but still came out 11-point winners. The Eagles kicked the opening pair of goals within the first six minutes, but would still be within reach of the Bulldogs who drew the gap back to a single straight kick by the quarter-time siren with the board reading 3.1 to 2.1. There was more spirit in the Dogs in the second quarter, but would be made to rue some cruicial missed chances as the Eagles put through a trio of goals late in the term. The Eagles would go into the changerooms with an 11-point lead at half-time, scoring 3.2 to Centrals' 2.4. The third term was as lowly as they come, reduced to a bit of a slog despite the very good weather conditions. The Eagles scored the only major for the term, along with behinds from both sides the gap was extended to 16 points going into the final stanza. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, like last week against the Bloods they just dropped off but this time they weren't in a position to be that lax. The Eagles book-ended the Bulldogs pair of goals with their three, putting the game well out of reach of the visitors. They would score 3.3 to 2.1 to take a four-goal win. Joseph Sinor was key to the Eagles triumph, scoring best on ground honours with his 21 disposals, 17 tackles, 10 clearances. Harry Grant was Centrals' best, with 20 disposals and nine tackles.