SANFL 2006 ROUND 12:
GLENELG v CENTRAL DISTRICT
Four wins on the trot has Bulldogs
on road to finals
By STEVE BARRETT
UNLESS an unforeseen disaster of biblical proportions occurs some time
between now and round 23, Central District will be making its seventh straight
finals appearance this season and, given its recent form surge, will once more
be a major contender at the business end.
The Bulldogs' ascent up the SANFL ladder has been gaining considerable
speed in recent weeks, most recently after trouncing Glenelg at the Bay by 68
points on Saturday.
The Dogs, now outright third on the table, engineered a massive
163-point turnaround from the sides' round three encounter, which the Tigers
won by 95 points.
Fast-starting Glenelg, unbeaten in first quarters in 2006, continued
that impressive trend when it took an eight-point lead into the first change,
after scoring the first goal, conceding the next three – two inside a minute to
Elijah Ware and Adam Switala followed by another Switala major – then closing the
quarter with three unanswered.
Switala, who played a blinder on the wing,
converted a set shot to open scoring in the second stanza before a Chris Gowans goal seven minutes later gave the Bulldogs back the
lead which they never ceded.
A 17-point half-time lead was increased to 28 at three-quarter-time,
before a ravenous 7.6 to 1.2 fourth term cavalcade gave Central's percentage a
sizeable boost.
In the last three quarters, the Dogs were never seriously challenged
and outscored Glenelg 16 goals to four, the difference in the two sides' workrate clearly discernible, not to mention the gap in
class between the rival midfield divisions. The Bulldogs' engine room,
including the likes of captain Paul Thomas, who played arguably his best match
since his return from Essendon, Chad O'Sullivan, Switala
and the Gowans lads, Chris and James, had a field
day, and worked beautifully in tandem with ruckman Paul Scoullar,
who was decisively the most influential big man on the field.
With seven multiple goal-kickers – led by Switala
with a career-best four and three to exhilarating teenager Justin Westhoff, whose seven league games have reaped 20 goals at
an astonishing accuracy rate of 91 percent – Central also had too much
firepower and variety up forward.
“After quarter-time our skill level improved a heap,'' said coach Roy Laird.
“Early on they broke some of our tackles which was
frustrating, but our tackling was great after quarter-time.
“Our willingness to support each other and do all the tough things, the
disciplined things, was good,'' Central coach Roy Laird said.
Given the Bays' success in first quarters, Laird identified winning the
opening term as an area of focus. But despite trailing at the first break, he
was happy with the way his charges responded.
“The good thing was we didn't let it get us down,'' he said.
“We were able to identify some areas we thought we could improve and we
were great after that – the team pressure was great.
“We've been frustrated with maybe taking the foot off the pedal a bit
in recent times when I thought we've been a dominant enough side to win by more
in other games.
“Today, we didn't button off – the work ethic right to the siren was
great.''
SCORES: Central District 3.4 7.6
12.7 19.13 (127) defeated Glenelg 4.6 4.7 7.9 8.11 (59).
BEST: Central - Scoullar,
Thomas, Switala, C.Gowans,
O'Sullivan, Graham; J. Gowans,
GOALS: Central - Switala
4, J.Westhoff, C.Gowans 3,
O'Sullivan, Cowan, Schell, Ware 2, L.Westhoff; Glenelg - Backwell 3, Horan, Saunders, Ruwoldt, Mules, Kirkby.