by Big Phil » Mon Aug 04, 2008 2:19 am
DOGGIES OF OLD BITE BACK
FINAL SCORES:
Centrals - 15.9 = 99
Glenelg - 8.6 = 54
GOAL KICKERS:
Centrals: M.Westhoff 5, C.O'Sullivan, L.Cowan 2, I.Callinan, S.Dutschke, C.Gowans, J.Griffin, L.Hadden, R.Williams 1
Glenelg: L.Panozzo 4, J.Willoughby, M.Duldig, J.Hinge, B.Kane 1
MY BETTER PLAYERS:
Centrals: I.Callinan, R.Cochrane, M.Westhoff, Y.Sibenaler, J.Gowans, R.Williams, S.Dutschke, H.Lawry, T.Goodrem
Glenelg: T.Allen, L.Panozzo, B.Kane, J.Willoughby, A.Fisher, J.Hinge, M.Duldig
CROWD: 3,001 - very disappointing !!??
THE GAME:
The Dogs looked switched on from the very start but were dealt a bit of a body blow with Elijah Ware a late withdrawal due to injury however this was countered with Ryan Williams coming back into the side after originally being selected to make his AFL debut for the Power. The Bays got the first goal through Ben Kane and the rest of the quarter was a high intensity, hard tackling affair with only 3 goals kicked between both sides at the first change. Young Power listed talent Matty Westhoff was back in the league side for only his second game and seemed to have paid back the selectors faith kicking 2 first quarter goals for the Doggies.
Despite seeming a little undermanned in defence, especially losing Daniel Havelberg to a season ending ankle injury last week, the Doggies backline was resolute on Saturday night against a quality forward set up from Mark Mickan's side. Yves Sibenaler played a great game on Todd Grima and was instrumental with his attack on the football doing a great blanketing role on the brother of Dogs premiership player Nathan. Evil, as he is known had far and away the best game for the club since last year's Grand Final where he held Nick Gill well and unheralded Richard Cochrane continued his great form playing with so much endevour and superb courage for a small player. Also impressive on the night was second year player Trent Goodrem who, on his much taller opponent Roury Kirkby, did a great job quelling the influence of big Roury.
The Tigers seemed to struggle with the intense pressure and tackling dominance of the home side and uncharacteristically turned the ball over at times. Centrals on ball brigade of Chad O'Sullivan, the Gowans twins, skippers Paul Thomas and Matthew Slade, Ian Callinan and youngsters Louis Hadden and Brayden O'Hara seemed to control the stoppages, an area the Bays have been so very dominant all year and the intense prressure of the home side did not allow the visitors to get their running game going. Glenelg seemed to have a few players a little down on form but take nothing away from Centrals, they sent a message to the rest of the competition, and those scribes that had written them off, that you dismiss them at your own peril. Roy Laird had been searching all year for a consistant 4 quarter effort and up until last night, would not have receiced one so far this year.
Centrals had been struggling in recent weeks to kick solid winning scores and since the Port game at Alberton earlier in the year where Havelberg kicked 9 goals, were struggling to find a potent and damaging forward who became a key focal point and kicked a bag of goals. Super impressive 2nd gamer Matty Westhoff was that player to step up and proved, with a 5 goal haul, that he is not too far off from playing in the big league with brother Justin. The younger of the 3 Westhoff boys, Matthew seemed to straighten Centrals up at times, and along with an out of form Heath Lawry regaining some touch, controlling CHF on the night and Luke Cowan bobbing up with a couple of goals, the Dogs forward line finally looked threatening for the first time in a long time.
Meanwhile, unlike their opposition, the Bays were struggling to find a dangerous forward who could take a mark insude 50 and with all of their usually reliable attacking options faultering, Mark Mickan swung an interesting move that proved to be quite valuable in the end. Regular defender Luke Panozzo was thrown to full forward, sent deep into the square and demanded the ball out in front of him where he was able to expose his opponent, former Hawk Luke McCabe, with superior pace and a great set of hands. The nippy number 6 ended up with 4 majors for the Tigers being their leading goal kicker and ended up with close to half his teams score while also showing that Mark Mickan might just have a secret weapon up his sleeve for the finals series. Usual suspects Adam Fisher, Ty Allen were at their tireless best winning plenty of the ball through the midfield and Ben Kane, until injured, was impressive early across half back.
In an impressive 4 quarter effort, the Doggies proved that they are still capable of playing the brand of football that has given them such sustained success and would take great pleasure in beating one of the top 2 sides for the first time this season. Glenelg, meanwhile, have a bit of work to do after looking a bit flat throughout periods of this game and although they will lose top spot to the Double Blues should Sturt beat the Eagles, Tigers fans will not be panicking at this stage as they will know full well that their side has played a solid, team brand of football all throughout the course of the year that has seen them sit atop the premiership table most of this time. One thing is for sure though, it does set up in the impending finals series as a mouth watering proposition for footy fans in general with no doubt, these 2 sides to meet again at some tantalising stage, possibly even in the Grand Final.
Big Phil...
Last edited by
Big Phil on Mon Aug 04, 2008 2:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
