Australian Football

Match Report

Now where was I... oh yeah, the only game on the Saturday and the sacrificial lamb to the ABC would be the match between the Bulldogs and the Panthers at Hamra Homes Oval in Elizabeth. It was almost four years and nine days ago that the blue and whites emerged victorious against the Dogs, back in 2006 when they took a 56 point win at Noarlunga. Since then its been all barks and no roars. 

In front of a low attendance of 1700, the Bulldogs would take an eight-point lead at quarter-time after scoring 3.3 to South's 2.1. Following a horrible injury to ruckman Cameron Milne, the Dogs started to fire and kicked a further 4.1 to 2.2, establishing a 19-point deficit going into the half-time break. One of those goals could have been South's had one Guy O'Keefe not given a free kick while the ball was destined for the Panther goal, instead allowing Ian Callinan to score. But that term was just for starters. When play resumed, the home side tore into the Panthers by kicking 7.5 while keeping the visitors scoreless for the third quarter. The gap was suddenly more than tripled in 25 minutes of footy, a 66-point lead at the final change. The Dogs took it easy from here, South adding a further 4.2 to 1.3 to reduce the final deficit to 49 points. 

Captain Paul Thomas led by example and was named best afield for the Dogs, while Nick Liddle was voted best for South.