Australian Football

Match Report

On Sunday afternoon at Prospect Oval the Roosters faced the Double Blues. The two games from last season both went the way of the boys in blue, with a pair of thumpings resulting. First there was a 62-point drubbing in Round 5, then a 46-point last hurrah in Round 19 to finish the season. The Blues have made some serious noise in the last few weeks, which reached a crescendo last week when they toppled the previously undefeated South Adelaide. The Roosters pulled themselves out of the doldrums at the expense of the Tigers in Round 6 and were unlucky against Adelaide the following week, a win against West pulled them away from the bottom of the ladder.

North got off to a good start given the circumstances this day, taking a two-goal lead at quarter-time after kicking 5.2 to 3.2 to start proceedings. For the next couple of quarters it was an all-out arm-wrestling match. A single behind to the Roosters would extend the gap to 13 points by the half-time break after adding 2.3 to Sturt's 2.2 in the second term, then the Blues chipped a goal off of that deficit by the final change after scoring 3.3 to 2.3 in the third term. It had all the makings of a grand finish, but for the Roosters there was not much left in the tank to stave off a final term Blues run. The Roosters kicked just one goal as the Blues scored 5.3 to take a 20-point win, taking them to the top of the ladder.

Zane Kirkwood was named best afield for Sturt, perhaps enhancing his chances of snaring the State captaincy, while the Roosters named Alex Spina as their best on ground.