Australian Football

Match Report

The final game for the mid-season period takes us over to the western fringe of Adelaide and into the Hisense Stadium in Richmond for the clash between the Bloods and the Tigers. It was a sense of deja vu for the Tigers after their last outing against the Bloods. Not in a bad way, mind you, Glenelg were winners at Brighton Road in Round 6 by 27 points. It was the fact that it was an identical scoreline from the previous week against the Panthers, albeit only slightly more accurate. While the results can't be argued with, the Tigers of 2024 thus far have done things the hard way, with only two winning games where they really put a stamp on it. They've had some close shaves for sure, their latest being against North a fortnight ago for a two-goal win. For the Bloods, they just had to be the "1" in the Magpies' win column after last week's trip to Alberton. It was probably about time that the Bays kicked a bag and that they did, though they began the opening term with a trio of minor scores before kicking four goals to the Bloods' one to lead by 21 points at the first change. The second term saw them blow that gap out to more than 10 straight kicks, the Tigers sharing the scoring duties around a bit with six individual goal-kickers combining for a return of 7.2, matching their opening round tally from the same period. The Bloods kicked just 1.3 as they fell back to 56 points in arrears. That was pretty much the game done and dusted, the Bloods' first half was their second worst return since, yep... that last outing against the Bays where they kicked 1.2. They had more missed chances to cut that deficit down in the third term, kicking 1.4 while the visitors added 3.3 to their score, the Tigers' lead now out to 67 points. In the end, even a 5.1 run in the final term wouldn't silence the dissatisfaction on the Richmond terraces, Glenelg kept to just 2.4 as they ran out 52-point winners and ascending to second on the league ladder. Jonty Scharenberg was best afield for the Bays, with 26 disposals, eight marks and five tackles, while the Bloods had Sam Frost with 32 disposals, 17 tackles and 11 clearances.