SECOND RATE PERFORMANCE
By Robert Laidlaw

Round 3, 15/4/2006

Central District put up a second rate performance against Glenelg at Adelaide Oval last Saturday, and paid the penalty, going down by 95 points.

Interestingly, the Bulldogs had already lost six premiership players from last season, with 25 premiership medals between them, then the absence of Daniel Schell (3 medals), Nathan Steinberner (5), Stuart Cochrane (2), Richard Cochrane (3), Brad Currie (3), Adam Switala (1), and Luke McCabe (1) compounded the problem.

In contrast, eight players - Leigh Westhoff, Chad O'Sullivan, Scott Dutschke, Alan Obst, Adrian Wilson, Stephen Brooks, Chad Norsworthy, and Reece Francis - only had a total of 23 games of SANFL football experience, although Wilson and O'Sullivan had played in the VFL.

Added to Central's woes, Luke Cowan seemed to be carrying a leg injury in his first game of the year and Elijah Ware was playing his first match in 12 months after a knee reconstruction.

Excuses are all that can be offered, as the performance does not warrant too much comment, as it was the Dogs worse losing game since being thrashed by the same side at the same venue in 1992 - 10-14 to 30-19.

This millennium, Central's worst loss was in 2000 at home against Port Adelaide, when it went down by 78 points, and over the past six seasons, the Dogs are usually the ones inflicting pain, with 12, 100 points plus victories to their credit, a fate it almost suffered on Saturday.

With McCabe, Steinberner and Ben Britton all pulling out of the selected side, the Bulldogs looked brittle, and in the first term Glenelg kicked 6-1 to 2-5 to set the tone of the match, although both of Central's majors were beauties.

After the Tigers kicked the first three goals, Matthew Slade ran down an opponent to win a free to kick the Dogs first, then into time on, Leigh Westhoff received a handball in traffic and threaded the goal of the game.

Starting the second term as it did the first, Glenelg kicked the first three majors and by half time led 10-6 to 3-6. A dominant third quarter saw the Tigers extend its lead to 94 points, and things were looking ugly for Central.

Playing its best football of the match, the Bulldogs gave a whimper and was competitive in the last quarter, only being outscored by one behind, avoiding the embarrassment of a 100 point loss.

The best 10 players on the field were all Tigers, with only cameos from the likes of Matthew Slade, Brad Symes and Paul Thomas. Reece Francis made his debut, but it was a baptism of fire.

If things aren't already bad enough for Central, it faces one of the toughest tests it has ever been under in its next two games, against the Eagles next Tuesday at Adelaide Oval, and then four days later against West Adelaide under lights at home - two games in five days, an almost impossible task.

Scores: Glenelg 22-16 (148) d Central District 7.11 (53)
Best: Slade, Symes, Thomas.
Goals: Slade 2, Ware 2, Westhoff, Scoullar, O'Sullivan.