Australian Football

Match Report

The Western Bulldogs' premiership defence is hanging by a thread after they suffered a narrow loss to West Coast at Docklands on Saturday afternoon. The Dogs were outclassed by the Eagles for the first three quarters before somehow finding some form to get within a point at one stage, but a late goal to Nathan Vardy saw West Coast sneak home by seven points, a result which sees the Eagles maintain their place inside the eight, leaving the Bulldogs a game adrift of the finals bracket of the ladder.

The Bulldogs started well, with Mitch Wallis kicking a goal after an early mark, and had the chance to jump to a two-goal break when Tom Campbell also marked within range. But Campbell's kick was a shocker, failing to register a score and the Eagles seized the momentum soo after, with goals to Jeremy McGovern and Malcolm Karpany giving them a seven-point lead. A nice mark and goal to Jack Redpath brought the Dogs to within a point, but West Coast had the better of the rest of the term, kicking two of the next three goals to lead by 10 points at the first break.

Defences ruled for the first 15 minutes of the second quarter with each side managing just one behind until the drought was broken when a free kick was paid to Jack Darling and the converted, extending the Eagles' lead to 16 points. A strong mark from Drew Petrie a couple of minutes later saw him also kick truly, and the visitors were 22 points clear. The Bulldogs finally kicked their first major of the term after 22 minutes when Redpath marked and kicked his second, and the Eagles took a 16-point buffer into half time.

The Bulldogs looked like making a bit of a charge early in the third term when Bailey Dale goaled and Marcus Bontempelli had the chance to kick another, but Bontempelli's shot missed and the Eagles seized back control from there, with goals to Darling, Jamie Cripps and Karpany getting just one response from the Dogs through Tory Dickson, and the visitors' lead was 23 points midway through the quarter. Toby McLean pulled one back from the Dogs but they faded badly late in the term, with majors to Dom Sheed and Cripps seeing West Coast out to a 28-point lead at 'orange time'.

Having looked very mediocre for three quarters, the Bulldogs suddenly found some spark in the last quarter and became a vastly different side, dominating general play. Goals to Hunter, Wallis and Jordan Roughead, along with several behinds, had the Dogs back within seven points early in time on and when Jake Stringer intercept a kick-out from Tom Barras and snapped truly at the 24-minute mark, they were only a point behind and with all the momentum. But a beautiful snap from Nathan Vardy against the run of play extended West Coast's lead back out to seven, and they held on grimly from there to escape with a very important win.

Andrew Gaff was an outstanding contributor for the Eagles, collecting a match-high 42 touches and taking five marks, while Lachie Hunter's 26 disposals and two goals went a long way to keeping the Bulldogs within sight of a victory as many of his teammates around him struggled.

West Coast will return home to Subiaco to take on Port Adelaide (fifth, 8-6) on Sunday. A win in that game will see the Eagles consolidate a place in the eight and push for a top-four place. The Bulldogs meanwhile are fast running out of chances and few will give them much hope of a win when they take on Adelaide (second, 10-4) in Adelaide on Friday night. 

GOALS
Western Bulldogs: Redpath, Hunter, Wallis 2; Dale, Dickson, McLean, Roughead, Stringer
West Coast: Darling, Karpany 3; Cripps 2; McGovern, Petrie, Sheed, Vardy

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Western Bulldogs: Hunter, Macrae, Bontempelli, Dale, Cordy, Murphy
West Coast: Gaff, Darling, Petrie, McGovern, Vardy, Mackenzie, Hutchings

BEST - THE AGE
Western Bulldogs: Hunter, Redpath, Dale, Picken, Macrae, Daniel
West Coast: Gaff, Darling, McGovern, Sheed, Petrie, Vardy

INJURIES
Western Bulldogs: Redpath (corked thigh)
West Coast: Butler (hamstring) Wellingham (hip), Vardy (shoulder), Butler (hamstring)

UMPIRES: Brett Rosebury, Andrew Stephens, Andrew Mitchell 

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Fox Footy