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A seven-goal blitz in the second quarter and incredible accuracy has given the Western Bulldogs a well-deserved 18-point victory over the Sydney Swans 18.4.112 to 14.10.94 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
It was the Dogs first win against Sydney since 2002 and they were able to break the hoodoo with a dominant display of accurate kicking.
The Dogs were down by 15 points after a strong first quarter from the Swans but took the game to the Sydney side, outscoring the Swans seven goals to one in the second.
Sydney dominated early on, with Jarrad McVeigh a surprise early goal-kicker scoring two goals in the first 10 minutes.
The Dogs hit back through a goal to Adam Cooney, with the two sides trading blows over the next ten minutes through goals to Ryan O?Keefe, Brad Johnson, Darren Jolly and Mitch Hahn before Henry Playfair got his Sydney career off to a good start, kicking his first goal for the harbour-side club.
Michael O?Loughlin had a chance to give Sydney a 20-point break heading into the first change, but sprayed his shot after the siren.
Whatever Rodney Eade said to his charges did the trick, as the Dogs came out all guns blazing, scoring seven goals in the first 20 minutes. In fact, Sydney were held scoreless for much of the quarter, with young up-and-comer Kieran Jack kicking a goal at the 25th minute.
The Dogs were able to set up passages of play through pinpoint kicking to their forwards, who just did not miss with goals to Johnson, Murphy and youngsters Tim Callan and Stephen Tiller.
The third term saw the sides trade goals but it was a quarter where the Swans were left to rue their chances. Sustained pressure had the Swans peppering the goals, kicking a wasteful 4.5.
The Dogs broke away from the Swans with two early goals to Mitch Hahn and Johnson to take the lead out to 28 points. From there, the Dogs were never headed despite a late fight back from the Swans that brought them within 12 points.
A late Nathan Eagleton goal sealed it for the visitors.
Cooney was the star when the game was there to be won, amassing possessions at will and picking up three goals in the third quarter to blow the swans out of the water. He finished with 25 possessions and kicked five goals for the day to earn best-on-ground honours.
For Sydney, McVeigh and O?Keefe were the best, gathering 24 and 32 possessions respectively.
It was the Dogs first win against Sydney since 2002 and they were able to break the hoodoo with a dominant display of accurate kicking.
The Dogs were down by 15 points after a strong first quarter from the Swans but took the game to the Sydney side, outscoring the Swans seven goals to one in the second.
Sydney dominated early on, with Jarrad McVeigh a surprise early goal-kicker scoring two goals in the first 10 minutes.
The Dogs hit back through a goal to Adam Cooney, with the two sides trading blows over the next ten minutes through goals to Ryan O?Keefe, Brad Johnson, Darren Jolly and Mitch Hahn before Henry Playfair got his Sydney career off to a good start, kicking his first goal for the harbour-side club.
Michael O?Loughlin had a chance to give Sydney a 20-point break heading into the first change, but sprayed his shot after the siren.
Whatever Rodney Eade said to his charges did the trick, as the Dogs came out all guns blazing, scoring seven goals in the first 20 minutes. In fact, Sydney were held scoreless for much of the quarter, with young up-and-comer Kieran Jack kicking a goal at the 25th minute.
The Dogs were able to set up passages of play through pinpoint kicking to their forwards, who just did not miss with goals to Johnson, Murphy and youngsters Tim Callan and Stephen Tiller.
The third term saw the sides trade goals but it was a quarter where the Swans were left to rue their chances. Sustained pressure had the Swans peppering the goals, kicking a wasteful 4.5.
The Dogs broke away from the Swans with two early goals to Mitch Hahn and Johnson to take the lead out to 28 points. From there, the Dogs were never headed despite a late fight back from the Swans that brought them within 12 points.
A late Nathan Eagleton goal sealed it for the visitors.
Cooney was the star when the game was there to be won, amassing possessions at will and picking up three goals in the third quarter to blow the swans out of the water. He finished with 25 possessions and kicked five goals for the day to earn best-on-ground honours.
For Sydney, McVeigh and O?Keefe were the best, gathering 24 and 32 possessions respectively.
| Game notes: Of the new/returning players? Did they bring big Henry down as the kicking coach? Aside from having one of the worst haircuts in the league, Playfair let himself down time and time again with mongrel punts that just didn?t work. Even the goal he scored was a tumbling helicopter that really could have gone anywhere. He seems like he can do a job, but he has got to get his kicking sorted out. Everitt looked a bit rusty early on but got better as the game went on. After getting the easy goal in the goal-square, he seemed to get some confidence but he probably won?t be ready to dominate games for at least a couple of weeks. Ben Matthews? I know a lot of blokes here have it in for this fellow and from that display, you can see why. He had a real opportunity to show that he still had it in him to be a senior player for the Swans and contribute, but let the team down. He should just stick to his mentoring role with the reserves, because he is no longer in our best 30 players. Of the others? Ryan O?Keefe is a star. He is playing all over the ground at the moment and is looking more like a midfielder than a half-forward flanker at the moment. He is really taking his game to another level this year. Martin Mattner - when you are playing on a star player like Brad Johnson, you have got to be accountable. The amount of times the Dogs used Johnson on the rebound and had him standing metres in the clear was very disappointing and I thought it was a day Mattner should have focussed more on defence than attack. McVeigh continues his rise as a good quality player and is finally starting to live up to his No. 5 draft pick. If he can manage to play consistently at this level then he is definitely going to be a strong part of the midfield set up. His two early goals were very good, and it?s nice to see he has finally got his goal-radar back in line. Kieran Jack was the best of the youngsters, and should remain a part of our best 22 for the rest of the year. Nine tackles is a great achievement for any player, and his goal on the run was pretty good and showed a lot of confidence. Jarrad Moore also showed quite a bit. Ed Barlow showed his class again with some great passages of play but still needs a bit more time to develop consistency. It looks like the bye has come at the right time for Craig Bird. He showed a few signs of slowing down, and the weeks break should freshen him up for the next few games. |
| Goals: Sydney: O'Loughlin 3, Buchanan 2, McVeigh 2, Jolly, O'Keefe, Playfair, Jack, Everitt, Goodes, J. Bolton. Western Bulldogs: Cooney 5, Johnson 4, Hahn 2, Murphy 2, Tiller 2, Callan, Minson, Eagleton. Best: Sydney: O?Keefe, McVeigh, Jack, O?Loughlin, Goodes. Western Bulldogs: Cooney, Johnson, Murphy, Boyd, Hahn. Injuries: Hawthorn: None Sydney: None Reports: None Umpires: B Rosebury M Stevic S McInerney Crowd: 29,018 at the SCG. |
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