Australian Football

Match Report

We take on the longest trip in SANFL football, going down south to the Hickinbotham Oval at Noarlunga where the Panthers faced the Bulldogs. In the 2014 season, these two teams traded barbs on each other's home grounds with the Panthers winning by eight points at Elizabeth in Round 4, the Doggies returning the favour in Round 11 at Noarlunga with their 10-point win. This year's Round 6 match would go down as only the second time in history these teams have ever drawn, the Bulldogs' scoring the last goal of the match in a low-scoring encounter at the Ponderosa. This match was ideally placed at the end of the minor round, the Panthers only barely holding onto fifth facing a Bulldogs outfit on a roll and one win away from an previously thought unlikely finals appearance... this was practically, winner take all.

The Bulldogs took up the challenge early, taking a 13-point lead into the quarter-time huddle with their 3.2 to South's 1.1. Some inaccuracy crept into the Dogs' camp in the second quarter, but they would still manage to stretch their advantage to 27 points by the long break after they added a further 4.4 to the Panthers' two goals. Centrals' third quarters have been a talking point all season among supporters, mostly negative due to indecision and overuse of the ball. But the Panthers couldn't muster up too much themselves in the third either, outscored 2.3 to 1.3 as the visitors added a goal to their half-time deficit. One last spark from the Panthers camp would unfortunately come up short, the blue and whites' 6.2 against the Dogs' two goals would see their fifth spot usurped. Centrals' sneaked into the five for the first time this year with their seven-point win.

Luke Barmby was voted best for Centrals, while the Panthers named Brede Seccull as their best afield.