Australian Football

Match Report

The next Saturday afternoon game takes us up Port Road and into the Alberton Oval, where the Magpies hosted the Roosters. These sides shared the points last year, the Roosters were eight-point winners at Prospect in Round 7, but their accuracy cost them hard at Alberton in Round 13. That day, North kicked six goals from 23 scores as the Magpies ran out 38-point winners. The Roosters kicked 3.10 alone in the second half, most definitely a far cry from the earlier game. Both sides lost their respective matches last week, the Magpies still winless after losing the mini-Showdown while the Roosters couldn't find the winning score in their eight-point loss to Norwood at home. The first term was rather evenly fought, the Magpies' late major to finish the opening term allowed them to be up by four points after scoring 3.2 to 2.4. Now before I proceed, lets cast our minds back to Round 13 in 2022. The Roosters handed the Magpies a hammering similar to the one they had inflicted on them in the 1989 Grand Final, winning by 21 goals at Prospect. Now while they weren't going to hit those heights this time, imposing any kind of hiding at Alberton never loses its meaning to fans of the opposition. From here, any resistance put up by the Magpies was all but negligible. Their goals dried up for two whole quarters of football as the Roosters proceeded to bag five goals and lead by 26 points at the long break. When play resumed, the Magpies' attacking zone was practically a dead zone, scoring absolutely nothing while the Roosters added a further 6.3 to take their advantage out to 65 points come three quarter-time. The visitors kept up their rampage to finish off proceedings, the Magpies did finally put a couple through but it would hardly make an impression against another five Roosters goals. North would run out 14-goal winners, a rare feat for most at the Port Adelaide nest. Lachlan Grubb kicked five goals and was by far best afield for North, with 24 disposals, 10 tackles and nine marks. Port named Josh Byrne as their standout on a horrible arvo, with 23 disposals, eight marks and seven tackles.