CONSISTENCY DESERTS DOGS
By Robert Laidlaw

Round 19, 12/8/2006

Central District Bulldogs put a footnote on its inconsistent 2006 season with its 24 point loss to Port Adelaide Magpies at Alberton Oval last Saturday, the club’s seventh loss this year – the worse effort since 1999.

Coming off a 104 point victory against Sturt the previous week, Central started deserving favourites against the Magpies, but a woeful first half set the scene for the Bulldogs’ demise.

The loss has left the club vulnerable to missing the double chance, or worse still, the finals altogether, with big games coming up against Glenelg and North Adelaide following this week’s bye.

Port Adelaide and South Adelaide play the bottom two sides, West Adelaide and Sturt respectively this Saturday, and if both clubs win, the Dogs will be fighting for its survival. But Central still has its own destiny in its hands.

The Bulldogs have won only twice this season at another club's home ground, in round 12 at Glenelg and round 10 at Unley. However in a positive for the club, the next two games are at home and the Bulldogs haven't lost at the Ponderosa this year.

Kicking with the aid of the breeze in the first quarter, Central struggled to make any inroads for most of the term, and at the 25 minute mark trailed 1.3 to 3.6 – thankfully the Magpies kicking was astray – but two late goals closed the gap at the first change.

It was all Port Adelaide in the first 20 minutes of the second term, as the Magpies peppered the goals with 11 scoring shots to a single major from the Dogs, but was wasteful with only four goals.

Another 2.3 to 0.2 in the time on period saw Port lead by a commanding 39 points at the long break.
The home side had winners all over the ground, while many Central players had been almost as effective as its supporters.

With the Gowans twins, Chris and James, and Matty Slade being watched closely, most of the Bulldogs drive around the packs had dried up, with too few willing to pick up the slack, while many of Central’s defensive efforts left a lot to be desired.

A record score looked likely when Port Adelaide opened with the first two goals of the third term and lead by 52 points, but then the sleeping Dogs awakened.

It was now Central’s turn to be a little wayward, with a run of 4.6 to 0.2 up to lemons leaving the Dogs only 24 points in arrears. Chris Gowans laid a nice handball off to Alex Stengle half way through the quarter, which he converted from 40m for the goal of the game.

With confidence up, the Bulldogs looked dangerous when they kicked the first three majors of the last term, two from Luke McCabe, to close within six points 10 minutes in, but the Magpies steadied with three answering goals to seal the result.

McCabe was perhaps Central’s best player over four quarters, while Chris Gowans shook off the early attention to make an impact in the second half. Chad O’Sullivan worked hard early, and after spending time on the bench for an indiscretion, returned to the action with plenty of determination.

Two observations which need addressing. The game was over-umpired – for both sides – and was not up to the standard expected, while the Bulldogs faced a fresh Port from the bye, the sixth consecutive opponent Central has played coming off a bye.

The simple equation for Central District is to win its two night home games against Glenelg and North Adelaide, and the final minor round game against West Adelaide away, to seal the double chance. Drop even one game and it will be left vulnerable.

Scores: Port Adelaide 14.22 (106) d Central District 11.16 (82)
Best: McCabe, C. Gowans, O’Sullivan, Ware, Switala, Wilson.
Goals: McCabe 4, O'Sullivan 2, Slade, J. Gowans, Stengle, Scoullar, Mackenzie.