Central District dominates Glenelg in SANFL clash at Elizabeth, but are the Bulldogs back?

AS STRANGE as it may sound, Central District gets a 97-point win and it is still too difficult to know if the Bulldogs are back in town.

Cental's Jarrod Schiller is tackled by Tiger's Ian Milera at Elizabeth. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

AS STRANGE as it may sound, Central District gets a 97-point win and it is still too difficult to know if the Bulldogs are back in town.

Central, led by a phenomenal performance from Nick Holman, crushed Glenelg in Elizabeth on Saturday. But there are still lingering questions given their lacklustre first half and the lack of opposition from midway through the third quarter.

This is a performance the Bulldogs can build on and the Tigers may just have played them back into form and fuelled their confidence, two ingredients missing for much of their disappointing season.

“I’m happy for the players, they have done a lot of work and deserve a bit of luck,” Bulldogs coach Roy Laird said. “We have had some harsh luck this year with injuries early.

“But if you keep going hard and low and are willing to work, you will get your share of breaks and we have not earned them often enough this year.”

The first half from both sides was simply woeful and not good enough at this level. The skills and decision making were awful and some of the mistakes were head shakers.

The Bulldogs appeared to have control, only to waste a flood of opportunities. Not Holman, who finished with an incredible 38 disposals at 84 per cent efficiency, 21 contested possessions, 10 tackles and five goals.

Central's Isaya McKenzie on the break against Glenelg. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

When Tigers’ Ian Milera nailed the first goal of the third term, his side trailed by only 10 points. That was the end of their fight, however. From there they offered token resistance, conceding 14 unanswered goals, and 11 in the final term.

The Tigers are not a bottom side, they were fifth on the ladder going into this round and had beaten the Bulldogs in round four. But away from the small Glenelg Oval, and on the bigger decks, they can be exposed.

The tactics from the visitors were curious, starting the second quarter with only five players in attack and go-to man Josh Scott, arguably the best mark in the league, drifting between wing and defence.

It was a conservative approach from the injury-hit Tigers. And they made the Bulldogs look like the Bulldogs from their premiership glory years, with the home side’s skills vastly improved as the heat went out of the contest.

“That was an embarrassing effort today,” Tigers coach Matthew Lokan said. “111 to 55 disposals in the last quarter, 11 goals to one, that is not what we are about and if we are going to compete and plays finals footy, we need to be better than we were today.”

SCOREBOARD

CENTRAL DISTRICT 5.2 6.5 10.8 21.10 (136)

GLENELG 2.1 4.2 5.2 6.3 (39)

BEST — Central: Holman, Hannah, Milne, Goodrem, Barmby, Habel, Hoskin. Glenelg: Nicholson, Scharenberg.

GOALS — Central: McKenzie, Holman 5, Templeton 4, Jenner 2, Goodrem, Butcher, D. Fort, Hannah, Haydon. Glenelg: Barry 2, McBean, T. Milera, I. Milera, Vitkunas.’

INJURIES — Central: Walter (knee).

UMPIRES — Medlin, Scott, Hosking.

CROWD — 1824 at My Money House Oval, Elizabeth.