SANFL 2006 ROUND 19: PORT
ADELAIDE v CENTRAL DISTRICT
Bulldogs losing grip
By STEVE BARRETT
WITH so much to play for, including the chance to ensure a finals
berth, Central District's lacklustre display against Port Adelaide at Alberton
on Saturday hangs a bold question mark over the Bulldogs' premiership claims.
After spanking Sturt by 104 points last week, Central looked to be on
the march again.
But now, the question marks, which have hovered over the club's head
for much of this season, are again mounting.
The Dogs have earned a reputation this year for being inconsistent and
vulnerable against the competition's cream.
It could be argued that Central's only genuine high-quality and in-form
scalp this season was
The Bulldogs have been backyard bullies in 2006 – the club's 6-0 record
at
Saturday's result was Central's second loss at Alberton this season.
The Magpies led by one point at the end of a tight first quarter,
before completely overwhelming Central in the second period.
Port booted 6.10 to the Bulldogs' paltry 1.2 for the quarter to hold
sway by 39 points at the main interval.
When Port goaled twice to open the third term to blow the difference
out to 52 points six minutes in, the result seemed a foregone conclusion.
Central finally awoke from its prolonged stupor to boot 7.8 to 0.4 over
the next half-hour or so, Luke McCabe and Chad O'Sullivan were prominent on
Saturday, and young Alex Stengle was composed,
drilling a superb major from a terrific Chris Gowans
feed.
When McCabe marked and goaled for his fourth major 10 minutes into the
final stanza, the Bulldogs appeared to have all the momentum of a downhill
freight train, having slashed the Magpies lead from 52 early in the third
quarter to just one goal.
Port regrouped and kicked the last three goals to snuff the visitors
charge.
Central coach Roy Laird refused to hang his hat on the second half
comeback, which saw the Dogs almost snatch an undeserving win due to Port's
earlier inaccuracy. “The comeback is just a cop-out,'' he said.
“They (Magpies) came with a real one-on-one approach and they worked
under more than us ... we've all got to take a fair bit of responsibility for
that.
“I thought we were improving (before last week) but today, against
genuine opposition, our skill level let us down and our decision-making was
poor early.''
Central has the bye round this weekend, but Laird has warned his men
there will be no reprieve and he will work them hard.
After the bye, Central hosts third-ranked Glenelg and then
second-placed North at
The Dogs, unbeaten at home and having not lost a night match this
season, will go in with some confidence, but dropping even one of those games
would leave them vulnerable.
SCORES: Port
BEST: Port - Slattery, Biacsi, Poulton, Kingsley, CarrMaric, J.Clayton, Waterhouse;
Central - McCabe, Ware, Slade,
O'Sullivan, C. Gowans.
GOALS: Port - Slattery, 4, Waterhous, 3, J.Clayton,
Kingsley, Maric, Poulton, Mann,
Butcher, Ilett; Central
- McCabe 4, O'Sullivan 2, Scoullar, J.Gowans, Slade, Stengle,
McKenzie.