Port Adelaide has let its SANFL finals chance slip after losing to Central

THE five teams to contest the SANFL finals have all but been determined after Central District overcame Port Adelaide by 46 points in a lacklustre contest at Alberton Oval yesterday.

Justin Hardy escapes the clutches of a Magpies player a Alberton Oval. Picture: Simon Cross.

THE five teams to contest the SANFL finals have all but been determined after Central District overcame Port Adelaide by 46 points in a lacklustre contest at Alberton Oval yesterday.

Norwood, North Adelaide, Woodville-West Torrens, West Adelaide and the Bulldogs will extend their season beyond the minor round. Just what order the teams finish will be revealed in the final four rounds. The Bulldogs climbed three games plus hefty percentage clear of sixth-placed Sturt and the Magpies. The Double Blues have just three games remaining while mathematically the Magpies can still play finals. Magpies coach Ken McGregor, however, is not preparing himself for a miracle. "Finals are probably not a possibility for us now - we know we had to win that one (yesterday) to have a chance," McGregor said. "The game meant a lot to us and we built it up as a very big game. "At times we got a bit of momentum but we did not make the most of our opportunities. They were too good though." So it will be another finals appearance for the Bulldogs in the remarkable history of the club since 2000. But on the form they displayed for much of yesterday's encounter their stay in the major round will be short-lived. While any eight-goal win at Alberton should be treasured, there was too much clumsy football when skills execution was poor, decision-making shoddy and tackles failed to stick. The Bulldogs' second quarter, especially, was ordinary and the opposition was given far too much latitude by players unwilling to work hard to pick up an opponent. The Magpies capitalised to nail seven goals for the second term. The Magpies were only a shadow of the side which conquered the Redlegs, Eagles, Rooster and the Bulldogs in a purple patch in May and June. They lacked the conviction and intensity which earned them the points from those matches and, as McGregor noted, they butchered plenty of opportunities. In a stark contrast to the previous quarter when their only behind came in the final seconds, the Magpies added seven behinds and failed to kick a goal in the third term. Josh Thurgood had just four kicks for the first half and they all resulted in goals for the home side. He kicked three behinds for the third term. At the other end of the ground the Bulldogs shrugged off some undisciplined actions to start the quarter to bag seven goals without a replay and take a commanding 44-point buffer into the final term. It was trademark Bulldogs, sparked by Brad Symes, Paul Thomas and James Boyd feeding off ruckman Seb Guilhaus, as they secured possession at the stoppages and quickly blasted the ball deep into attack.