Australian Football

Match Report

Sunday afternoon at Alberton Oval saw the match between the Magpies and the Bulldogs. The minor round last season saw the Magpies take all the points against the Doggies, by eight points in Round 9 then a 17-point victory in Round 16. But that was all quickly forgotten after the Dogs made a surprise appearance in the finals, eliminating the Magpies from the series by five points in the cut-throat 1st Semi-Final. The Dogs have been a bit underdone as of late, after opening the season in great form have slumped to two defeats while the Magpies came into this game with a week's rest and a win from Round 3.

Amazingly though, the Bulldogs met the AFL challenge head on and although inaccurate early on, would take a 10-point lead after kicking 4.4 to Port's three goals. The second quarter was rather full in regards to scoring, the Magpies bringing themselves back to within a kick of the Bulldogs after kicking two goals to 1.2. At the half-time break, the Dogs were ahead by six points. Centrals third term was the game breaker, the Magpies couldn't buy a goal and fluffed six scoring opportunities while the visitors took 5.5 to give themselves a 35-point lead by three quarter-time. The 'Pies saved their best until way too late, the Dogs weren't going to let go of this one and in a near shootout final quarter, added 3.3 to Port's 4.2 to take a 30-point win.

Travis Schiller was named best for the Bulldogs, while the Magpies named Jared Polec as their best. Despite Polec's best on ground performance, the rest of Port's AFL contingent would cop a post-match rocket from coach Chad Cornes, who labelled them as "selfish".