SATURDAY NIGHT FRUSTRATION
By Robert Laidlaw

Central District Bulldogs did enough to beat South Adelaide Panthers in a night game at Elizabeth on Saturday, but not enough to appease their hungry supporters, only winning by 55 points after kicking the game's first six goals.

Coming off its second loss of the season the previous week, hungry fans were salivating for a possible 30 goal game, but had to endure some of the most frustrating footy served up this season.

While its true anything resembling a solid victory of this nature in the past may have been acceptable, expectations are acute in 2007, as redemption for last year seems the only thing on people's minds with finals action closing in.

The first quarter of an hour of the match seemed to justify the paying customers desire for a quick response to the North loss, as Ian Callinan and Daniel Havelberg were on fire, kicking five of the first six majors between them.

But then the drought hit, and the Dogs seventh goal did not arrive until the 18 minute mark of the second term, when Chad O'Sullivan hammered one home, then 45 seconds later Leigh Westhoff threaded an accurate shot through traffic.

Leading 8-3 to 2-4, it seemed a couple more majors before half time would set up a strong run home, but South peppered the goals in the time on period with five scores, fortunately only one hitting its mark, after the siren.

Unbelievably both teams had the same scoring opportunities in the first half, as the Panthers 3-8 reversed Central's straighter contribution.

Coach Roy Laird would have roasted his troops at the long break, and the response seemed instant, as Brad Symes kicked a major three minutes into the third term, quickly followed by Ryan Williams' first goal in league footy.

Unfortunately the rest of the period was a grinding battle, with only one major to each side, and the Bulldogs only led 11-8 to 4-9 at lemons. Fans were getting restless, and many were considering the warm comforts of home.

An early goal to O'Sullivan in the final quarter could have been the catalyst for a bombardment, but over the next 10 minutes South controlled proceedings and booted two majors.

Central then hammered home five of the next six goals, the highlight Heath Lawry's almost trademark long bomb, goal of the game, but the last say was South's, and in the end the victory did mathematically guarantee the minor premiership.

The running brigade proved the Dogs greatest weapon, as Central struggled to find a dominant forward, with Symes, Adam Switala, Matthew Slade, O'Sullivan, Paul Thomas and Callinan the architects of most goalscoring creations.

While Havelberg early and Lawry later offered a little forward spark, most of the frustration for fans came when South continually repelled many Bulldog attacks from deep in its defence.

Fortunately the home side's backline remained fairly mean, although the Panthers did waste numerous opportunities in the first half, with Daniel Schell the standout Central defender.

Playing South under lights at Elizabeth was an ill-conceived idea, which should be avoided in future, unless the game can be built up as a blockbuster, similar to this Saturday's clash against Sturt, which promises to be one of the top encounters of the season.

Having been beaten by the Blues earlier in the season, and Sturt coming off a meritorious second 2007 Alberton victory - an extremely rare occurrence - Central District WILL be fired up.

With only a game at Norwood Oval the following week, before almost three weeks off, now is the time for the Bulldogs to get into gear for the finals. Central must have its best possible side on the park, or else face a psychological disadvantage if the teams meet next month.

Make no mistake, Saturday's clash at the Ponderosa will be a must see match-up for any Doggy fan, and the best indicator of how well Central can perform under pressure. A crowd close to 8000 should be in attendance, which will create a finals' atmosphere - Be there!

Central District 17-11 (113) d South Adelaide 8-10 (58)
Best: Symes, Switala, Slade, O'Sullivan, Schell, Thomas, Callinan.
Goals: Callinan 3, O'Sullivan 3, Lawry 2, Havelberg 2, L. Westhoff 2, Williams 2, Symes, Ware, Switala.

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