Double Blues belt Bulldogs on the back of a seven-goal first quarter blitz

Sturt kept Central District goalless for the entire first half as it romped to a fourth straight win to keep in striking distance of the SANFL’s top teams.

Seven is a lucky number, everyone knows that. And for Sturt, “seven” was an early recurring theme as it ran rampant over Central District.

The Double Blues’ win was built on a seven-goal-to-nothing first quarter where Sturt relentlessly hunted the Bulldogs, making it almost impossible for them to clear the midfield and head inside-50.

In fact, by the seven-minute mark of the first term, when Sturt had kicked their second goal, they were also leading the inside-50 count, seven-to-zip.

While Centrals improved markedly after quarter time, Sturt continued on its merry way to a 39-point win, 15.8 (98) to 8.11 (59).

Sturt's Matt Crocker bounds away from Central's Travis Schiller. Picture: AAP Image/Dean Martin

Sturt’s first goal of the day came from a clearing midfield kick and Joshua Hone marked after finding himself all alone 40m out, right in front. As he was lining up for kick, the crowd let out a rousing cheer as Casey Voss — the 18-year-old son of former Brisbane champion and current Port Adelaide assistant coach Michael — ran onto Peter Motley Oval for his first game of league footy.

The Dogs were error-riddled in that first quarter — evidenced no better than when their kick-in from the boundary line in the Sturt forward pocket went awry and the Blues’ Steven Slimming gathered the ground ball and snapped beautifully for his second.

Slimming, along with Aidan Riley, Byron Sumner and Sam Colquhoun were winning the ball at will.

Centrals coach Roy Laird must have read the Riot Act at quarter time because his side was far more disciplined in the second quarter. As such, the ball spent far more time in the Dogs’ forward line, and they kept peppering the goals, but just couldn’t score: snaps went either out of bounds on the full or were smothered, set shots were either sprayed or touched on the line and the visitors went into half time with only three points on the board staring at a whopping 55-point deficit.

Sturt players heap the pressure on Central's Jarrod Schiller as he gets a handball away. Picture: AAP Image/Dean Martin

The second half — while the scoreboard stayed lopsided — was a far more even affair, with Centrals playing a brand of footy that Laird described as possibly their best half of football all season.

“Given the opposition’s mindset given the score, I’m not sure, but the way we went about it, that’s the brand we like to play, we’ve just got to play it more consistently,” he said.

Dog Troy Menzel gave his side cause for celebration when he kicked their first goal early in the third term after finding space and taking a strong mark in the goalsquare. That goal started a string of four unanswered majors.

By the time the fourth quarter started, Centrals had levelled the inside-50 count (33 apiece) and — incredibly — led in this area by the game’s end (49 to 40).

Bulldog Travis Schiller found plenty the ball (and finished the game with a team-high 29 disposals), while Jarrod Schiller was excellent and finished with a game-high 11 tackles.

Centrals outscored Sturt in the second half: eight goals to six, but it was too little too late.

Sturt’s midfield shone: James Battersby (game high 30 disposals) Danyle Pearce (25), Riley (29) and Sumner (21 touches).

Sturt coach Nathan Grima said despite the win, his side was completely outplayed in the second half.

“They smashed us around the footy, we were lucky it didn’t end up closer,” he said.

Special mention to Voss who scored a goal in his first game and picked up nine touches.

The Double Blues are now celebrating their fourth straight win, while the Bulldogs are wondering “Where to now?” with four consecutive losses.

SCOREBOARD

Sturt: 7.3 9.4 13.7 15.8 (98)

Central District: 0.1 0.3 4.4 8.11 (59)

Best

Sturt: Colquhoun, Sumner, Pearce, Slimming, Crocker, Battersby

Central District: T. Schiller, J. Schiller, Goodrem, Menzel, Presbury

Goals

Sturt: Hansen 3, Slimming 2, Sutcliffe 2, Patullo 2, Evans, Hone, Munn, Colquhoun, Greenslade, Voss

Central District: Presbury 3, Menzel, Barreau, Neagle, Hoskin, Haydon

Injuries: None

Umpires: Philp, Bryce, Bennett

Crowd: 2604 at Peter Motley Oval