AustralianFootball.com Celebrating the history of the great Australian game
Round: 9 Venue: Woodville Oval Date: Sat, 30-05-2009 2:10 pm Crowd: 2,027 | |||||
Woodville West Torrens | 3.1.19 | 6.3.39 | 9.5.59 | 14.6.90 | |
Central District | 3.3.21 | 6.6.42 | 9.8.62 | 11.9.75 | |
CENT by 2 | CENT by 3 | CENT by 3 | W-WT by 15 |
A perfect sunny afternoon was in effect much to the joy of SA footy-heads and the ABC cameras headed to Woodville Oval for the encounter between the Eagles and the Bulldogs. The 'noughties' have seen this rivalry grow since the 2000 Grand Final and four other premiership deciders since then. The Eagles spanked the Dogs at Woodville last year, but fell short in the season opener this year.
Many gave the Eagles no chance to win this time around, but they gave that notion some serious doubt then they were just two points behind at quarter-time. It would still be neck and neck in the second term, but Centrals players would make costly mistakes that would deny them a bigger lead. At the half-time break, it was 6.6 to 6.3 in favour of the visitors. The Eagles would continue to hound the reigning premiers into the third quarter, again the Dogs' average skills stopping them from sprinting off. One example would be a dropped mark in their attacking zone in the final seconds of the third quarter which could have seen Centrals up by nine points at the final change. Alas, the gap would not be stretched, still three points at three quarter-time. Enter Ken McGregor. Shifted up forward, his three goals in amongst the Eagles' 5.1 for the final term against the Dogs' 2.1 would seal it, the Eagles ending the streak to the tune of 15 points.
Mark McKenzie's return match would see him bag best afield votes for the Eagles, while Chad O'Sullivan was named best for the Bulldogs.