Bulldogs bounce back to beat Crows in SANFL battle

CENTRAL District failed to produce a four-quarter effort but was still too strong for an Adelaide outfit struggling with injury problems.

Connor McLean bagged four goals for Central District in the win over Adelaide. Picture: Matt Loxton/AAP

CENTRAL District bounced back from the upset loss to West Adelaide with a comprehensive 70-point victory over Adelaide in Elizabeth yesterday.

The Bulldogs had control of the battle from the outset and were never threatened by a Crows outfit which contained just six senior listed AFL players and four rookie-listed.

“The boys got some reward for the work they have done moving some better ball,” Bulldogs coach Roy Laird said.

“But for too many periods we were not at a level we need to be. We are still a work in progress to get a four-quarter performance and we were a long way from that today.”

The game was as good as decided in the first quarter when the Bulldogs completely dominated the contest to build a 43-pount buffer on the back of an eight-goal term.

And the Bulldogs were not even playing well. They constantly missed targets with hand and foot as the skill error count mounted.

But what they were able to do was get their hands to plenty of possessions and keep pushing forward to create scoring opportunities.

Hard-running Luke Barmby was extremely damaging for the home side and he had no problem mastering the skills of the game.

Bulldogs onballer Travis Schiller amassed possessions, Sam Hanna had an influence and Connor McLean was a strong target in attack. Kyle Jenner also subdued Crows midfielder Patrick Wilson.

Whenever the Bulldogs went into the attacking 50 a goal seemed the likely outcome. The inside 50 count was 15-4 late in the first quarter, such was their domination.

Adding to the misery of the visitors was back-to-back goals for the Bulldogs inside the first two minutes of the second term to stretch the lead.

The Crows, with Doug Hadden playing well and Ben Davis’ impact growing as the game lengthened, showed some fight in the heat in the second quarter of a lacklustre game.

However, there was no way back for the Crows, the damage on the scoreboard had been done, and the Bulldogs were able to keep them on a long leash.

“We won the last quarter which was positive,” Crows coach Ryan O’Keefe said.

“We just kept chipping away at it. They got the jump on us and had their tails up.”

CENTRAL DISTRICT 8.2 13.4 19.6 21.11 (137)

ADELAIDE 1.1 3.4 6.7 10.7 (67)

BEST — Central: Barmby, Hanna, T. Schiller, McLean, Hoskin, McKenzie, Jenner. Adelaide: Hadden, Edwards, Davis, McMahon, Launer.

GOALS — Central: McLean 4, T. Schiller, Presbury, Hoskin, Hately, Goodrem, D. Fort 2, Barmby, Hanna, McKenzie, F. Fort, White. Adelaide: Davis 3, McMahon, Launer 2, Himmelberg, Fogarty, Offe.

UMPIRES — Morgan, Schramm, Hundertmark.

CROWD — 1590 at My Money House Oval, Elizabeth.