Australian Football

Match Report

We head up north to the Playford Alive Oval in Elizabeth where the Bulldogs faced the Panthers. It has become a battle between the representatives of the furthest boundaries in Adelaide's metropolitan area, the northern-most club against the southern-most club. The last time they met, Centrals left Noarlunga with a 25-point win and their 17th consecutive victory against the Panthers, whose closest effort in recent memory was mid-2009 when they lost at home by 16 points. A more horrid day than last week's trip to Richmond greeted the near-1400 SA footy-heads that turned up and Souths were no doubt riding high on their past two weeks. The conditions were going to be more testing than the Round 14 afternoon and both sides struggling to put majors on the board.

The Dogs adapted best, they kicked 2.3 to South's 1.4 to lead by five points at quarter-time. The younger brigade were stepping up this day, the Dogs extended their lead to 17 points by the long break after they added 3.2 to their tally while the Panthers managed 1.2 in the second quarter. When play resumed, the Dogs added another two goals to the visitors' two behinds to extend their lead to 27 points by the final change. One thing that was missing from the Bulldogs' efforts for 2013 has been the ability to put the opposition away and in lousy conditions, anything less than five goals may not be enough to ensure a win. But thankfully for the Bulldogs, a set of stronger bodies in defence would save them blushes after a last ditch Panther effort. The Panthers' kicked 2.3 to an inaccurate 1.6, the final deficit drawn back to four goals.

Centrals named Sam Colquhoun as their best afield, while the Panthers voted in Nathan Daniel as their best.