Australian Football

Match Report

In the final match for the round, we cross town to the inner northern suburbs to the Prospect Oval for the Northern Derby between the Roosters and the Bulldogs. North hadn't had a hat-trick of wins against the Dogs for some time, but come Round 24 last season the Roosters finally inflicted some real pain on their northern rivals. Two wins in the space of three weeks, the latter eliminating them from the 2012 finals, then the Round 2 disappointment at Elizabeth this year. Roosters fans, for once, really had something to crow about over their Centrals counterparts. After a loss to Port, the Roosters answered their critics with a gritty win against West and then dominating Glenelg. But the Dogs have been slowly awakening from their early season slumber.

North took the initiative early, while the Dogs had a horrid time in goal as they kicked 1.8 to 3.2. At quarter-time, the Roosters were up by a goal. But then the Bulldogs started to click in front of the North faithful, the inaccuracy bug changing camps as the visitors kicked 5.2 to 2.4. At the half-time break, the Dogs were ahead by 10 points. The Dogs would then enjoy one of their best quarters of the season without a dominant full-forward, despite inaccuracy again being a problem they added a further 6.5 whilst keeping North to just 2.1 to jump out to a 38-point lead. Centrals almost went to sleep in the final term, a fact that coach Roy Laird didn't let them forget in the post-match. They allowed the Roosters to kick 5.1 to their own 2.3, the final deficit was 22 points in favour of the Dogs.

Brayden O'Hara was named best on ground for Central, while the Roosters named Matt Campbell as their best.