Glenelg triumphs over the Bulldogs in a seesawing SANFL thriller

GLENELG willed its way over the line against Central District at the Bay on Saturday to record its second win for the season.

Glenelg defeated Central Districts in a thrilling game.

GLENELG willed its way over the line against Central District at the Bay on Saturday to record its second win for the season.

In a thrilling match that see-sawed all day and looked headed for a draw, the Tigers hit the lead for the final time with a minute remaining thanks to a snap goal from Jacob Carger.

Central had its fair share of chances to win a second straight nail-biter but lacked composure under pressure.

Instead the Bulldogs will enter the last match before the bye in the unfamiliar position of being a long way behind the top teams with a 2-5 record.

“We’re not a complete side because we’ve got too many guys that don’t impact the game,” Central coach Roy Laird said.

“There are some players now we’ve got to make some harsh calls on as to what sort of league futures they’ve got.

“It’s a different time but we’ve got to make sure we handle it in the right way and make some calls.”

Glenelg’s endeavour over four quarters would have pleased its fans.

Tigers coach Nick Stevens said the win would give his side belief it could string performances like that together.

“It wasn’t pretty but it’s one of those games where if you won you’re thrilled with the effort but if you lose you’re devastated,” Stevens said.

“For a young group to keep going and win that game, I thought was great.

“I thought our back six in the last 10 minutes of the game were outstanding in pressure situations.”

The game was an armwrestle, where the biggest lead was only 19 points and both sides played with desperation.

There were plenty of smothers, one-percenters that forced the opposition to turn the ball over and 106 tackles between the teams.

Scores were tied three times during the final quarter and it was the Bulldogs that looked like winning the game in the dying stages.

But Adam Cullen sprayed a shot out on the full, Shaun Tapp took a vital contested mark for Glenelg and the Tigers managed to clear the ball from their defensive 50.

Then Carger snapped the winning goal over his head from close range at the 26-minute mark.

Central was fielding one of its least experienced outfits in recent years with just three players aged 26 or older (Paul Thomas, Scott Dutschke and Luke Barmby) and 10 who were yet to chalk up 10 league games.

But Laird was not using that as an excuse and said the club might opt to test more youngsters in coming weeks.

“We’ve got blokes who are aspiring league footballers but not what I’d consider good league footballers because they don’t deliver consistently enough,” he said.

GLENELG 2.3 8.4 10.6 13.8 (86)

CENTRAL DISTRICT 3.1 6.3 10.8 12.8 (80)

Gliderol Stadium

BEST - Glenelg: Bailey, Bradley, McCarthy, Pitt, Hender, Hooper, Galley.

Central: J. Schiller, Thomas, T. Schiller, Stephenson, McIntyre.

GOALS - Glenelg: Hooper 4, Alleway, Joseph 2; Allen, Carger, Thorp, Jolly, Underwood.

Central: McIntyre, Collier, Retzlaff 2; Gillbee, Haydon, Hill, Nason, Thomas, Williams.