Australian Football

Match Report

The final match for the weekend finds us heading over to the inner north, the Prospect Oval playing host to the Northern Derby between the Roosters and the Bulldogs. These sides have clashed more often over the last few years than some of the others in the same time frame, the Roosters sending the Bulldogs packing on days when it mattered most, in finals situations or in the closing rounds of the season. Last year's final round encounter at this venue saw the Roosters have one last hurrah for 2014 at their expense, but the Dogs would have a louder laugh come Round 10 this season when they hammered their northern rivals by 99 points at the Ponderosa.

The Bulldogs would open the match better off on the scoreboard with their 3.1, the Roosters had a horrid first term with their 1.4 to be down by nine points at the first change. The Roosters found their feet in the second term, but the Dogs' use of the wind would see them extend their lead to 23 points by half-time despite their own bout of inaccuracy, kicking 5.4 to 3.2. When play resumed, the Roosters chipped away at the Dogs' lead as the visitors seemed to grind to a halt attack-wise. Restricting the Dogs to just three behinds, their own inaccuracy stopped them from closing the gap further. North kicked 2.6 as Centrals' lead was brought back to eight points. But just as it looked like the Roosters could steal it, in came mother nature's wrath as the Dogs slipped out of Prospect with the victory, they scored three goals to 2.3 to win by 11 points.

Chris Jansen continues to impress at league level with his best afield honours for the Dogs, the Roosters named Nick Amato as their best on ground.