Australian Football

Match Report

In the first of two Saturday afternoon matches, we head down Port Road to the Unleash Solar Oval in Woodville for the contest between the Eagles and the Bulldogs. In their last stoush, the Doggies escaped Oval Avenue with a one-goal win in Round 14 to end their hoodoo at the Eagles' nest.

Fresh off a two-week absence thanks to the split round, the Eagles began proceedings by kicking 5.2 to the Dogs' 2.1 in the first term to take a 19-point lead at quarter-time. Both teams had a hard time finding the goals in the second term, but the home side would be up by 20 points by half-time after adding 2.2 to 2.1. It was clear the absence of a dominant forward was hurting the Dogs early on, as well as some poor judgement and in one case an unbelievable umpiring error. But when play restarted for the second half, the altered forward line started to pay dividends for the reigning premiers. The third quarter saw Centrals blast the Eagles away with their 7.5 to 2.1 effort, the visitors going into the final quarter with a 14-point lead. The last term was a shootout, the Dogs holding off the Eagles to take a 15-point win after scoring 4.3 to 4.2.

Chris Gowans was voted best for the Dogs, while the Eagles named Mark McKenzie as their standout. One unbelievable stat was the free kick count... 33 to 20 in favour of the Eagles!