Australian Football

Match Report

Match number two for the weekend takes us up to the northern suburbs of Elizabeth, the Playford Alive Oval the setting for the clash between the Bulldogs and the Bloods. The Ponderosa hasn't been a happy hunting ground for the Bloods for a while, they have only taken points from one match out of the last 17 trips. Their last outing to the Dog-pound resulted in a 34-point loss back in Round 13 last season, but their most recent meeting was a win by the same margin at Richmond back in Round 5 this year. Westies ran into a little bit of a speed bump over the last few weeks, with a couple of losses to top sides sandwiched in between wins against lower sides. The Dogs have been on the up lately, but West would be a stern test even at Elizabeth. 

Both sides would open the game equals on the scoreboard as they kicked 2.1 each in the first quarter. The Bloods would kick ahead by the half-time break though, but not by much as they were guilty of the same kinds of turnovers that the Dogs had been guilty of most of the season. After kicking 3.1 to Centrals' 2.3, the Bloods went into the long break with a mere four-point lead. The Dogs would continue to nip at the heels of their opponents when play resumed, the Bloods' inaccuracy in the third term allowing the home side to draw the gap back to a single straight kick. The Doggies kicked 3.2 to the Bloods' 2.6 to bring the deficit down to just two points by three quarter-time. But the visitors weren't going to be denied, not even by their own mistakes. After the Dogs got to within five points entering time-on, the Bloods kicked a late double among their 4.4 to Centrals' 3.1 as they broke their Elizabeth hoodoo with an 11-point win.

Kaine Stevens was named as the Bloods best afield, Centrals voted in Justin Hoskin as their best.