Australian Football

Match Report

There were three matches taking up the traditional Saturday afternoon time-slot, the first takes us up to the northern suburbs where the Bulldogs hosted the Bloods at the My Money House Oval in Elizabeth. It was at the Bloods' expense that the Doggies took their second victory for the season at the time, back in Round 8 they escaped Richmond with a seven-point win. Down by 15 points at the long break, they kept West to just five behinds and kicked 4.3 in the second half. A tense final term yielded no goals, but the Dogs held on for the win. 

The Bloods were up for it early on, the Dogs goal-kicking issues that have been around all year saw them down by three points at quarter-time with the board reading 2.4 to 3.1. Their scoring improved greatly in the second term though, the inaccuracy bug jumping camps as the Bloods scored 1.5 to the Dogs' 6.2, the home side taking a four-goal lead into half-time. Other than their constant periods of inaccuracy on goal, the Bulldogs have also had a habit of having full quarter fadeouts that allow their opponents to draw their leads back over a quarter, in most cases this year it has resulted in losses. Again their shooting on goal would let them down in the third quarter, the Bloods scoring 3.2 to the Dogs' 1.5 as their advantage shrunk to 15 points come three quarter-time. But with their season hanging by the thinnest of threads, the Dogs sprung to action in the final term to keep their September hopes alive. While their accuracy still left much to be desired, they kicked 6.5 to the Bloods' two behinds as the Dogs romped to a nine-goal victory. 

Darcy Fort was named best for Centrals, the Bloods named Shannon Green as their best.