Australian Football

Match Report

It's off to Coopers Stadium, where the ABC covered the only Saturday afternoon match for the weekend between the Redlegs and the Bulldogs. Centrals have inflicted some brutal punishments on the Redlegs in the past couple of years, from the previous seven matches the Doggies have won six which included a 26-goal hiding at Elizabeth in 2007, while Norwood took a two point victory in 2006. 

The first quarter was goals-a-plenty, with the Dogs taking a quarter-time lead of 18 points after kicking 7.7 to 5.1. But Norwood, no doubt incensed after last week's loss, reduced the deficit to one point by half time after kicking a bag of their own, seven goals to 4.1. Overconfidence in goalkicking on some of the Dogs' players part during the match was bringing them undone, as the Redlegs took the lead in the third quarter and were leading by a goal at the final change. The final quarter was a nail-biter, after the Redlegs extended their lead to 12 points early on, the visitors lifted their game to re-take the lead and it came down to a last ditch shot on goal by Norwood to be tapped through by Bulldog Justin Hardy that would deny the Redlegs a huge upset. The Bulldogs won by a point, but this didn't appease coach Roy Laird who scolded his players after the game. 

Yves Sibenaler was voted best for Central, while Norwood voted vice-captain Brett Zorzi as their best afield.