Australian Football

Match Report

The final match of Round 15 brings us to the inner-southern suburbs for some Sunday afternoon footy, the Double Blues hosting the Magpies at Envestra Park in Unley. The last time these two clubs met, it was on neutral territory at The Parade as the Blues nicked the points in a thrilling contest that yielded 34 goals. In the 10 games prior to this, the two teams shared the spoils with five wins each, the Double Blues win in Round 2 giving them a hat-trick of victories against the old enemy. This match drew the biggest crowd of the weekend, the conditions far more friendly for a day out.

The Blues got to work straight away, the Magpies had a poor first term as the home side kicked 4.3 to one behind and went into the first change with a 26-point lead. But after scoring the opening goal in the second term, the 'Pies hit back by kicking 6.1 to Sturt's 3.1 to bring the deficit back to eight points by half-time. When play resumed the Blues went into damage control and despite their tendency to overuse the ball, they would put the gap back out to 22 points by the final change after adding 4.2 to their score and keeping the Magpies to two goals. Sturt would keep the lead out of reach for the rest of the game, going score for score with the Magpies - 2.3 a piece - to win by 22 points and rise to seventh spot on the league ladder behind Port in sixth.

Michael Coad was voted best for Sturt, while the Magpies named Kory Beard as their best on ground.