Reigning SANFL premiers Sturt survive late Central rally to march into preliminary final

STURT’s dream of back to back SANFL premierships is alive after surviving a brave Central District fight to claim a seven-point victory in the first semi-final at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.

Strurt's Scott McMahon celebrates a goal during the win against Central. Picture: BIANCA DE MARCHI

STURT’s dream of back to back SANFL premierships is alive after surviving a brave Central District fight to claim a seven-point victory in the first semi-final at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.

The Double Blues were never headed in the contest, although they were forced to stand up to a string of spirited challenges from the Bulldogs in a highly entertaining, intriguing battle.

To review the game would be to take snapshot of the opening quarter, the Double Blues blasting clear in every quarter before facing a fiercely competitive comeback from their opponents.

Sturt's Steven Slimming takes a mark at the first semi-final win against Central District.

The Double Blues have taken a slight detour compared to last season’s charge at the flag, but they are now in familiar territory with a preliminary final commitment on Sunday.

“Against a quality team and one of the form teams of the comp, that is a very impressive win,” Double Blues coach Marty Mattner said.

“They kept coming, and we would come, it was a good game of footy.

“We’d be good in the first 10 minutes of the quarter, the middle 10 would be an arm wrestle and they would then play better footy.

“I was a bit nervous, Central has been a good team for the last six weeks. But I knew if we played Sturt footy for long enough we would win.”

The pattern of each quarter was the Double Blues getting quality ball from the stoppages to go on the attack. Double Blues onballer James Battersby is a gun and he was so often the spark.

With a constant supply, the Double Blues forwards made life tough for the Bulldogs defence.

In the first quarter the Double Blues led by 15 minutes before the Bulldogs had a positive response, in the second they had an 18-point buffer, it was a commanding 25 in the third and the advantage was 20 in the fourth.

Central's Nicholas Holman is tackled by Sturt's Benjamin Hansen.

The Doubles Blues just seemed to have the edge in class and composure. As Bulldogs coach Roy Laird noted, his opponents were cleaner at critical times.

Josh Glenn returned to the Bulldogs this season and he again showed off his class, while the workrate from teammates around the contest lifted. But there were not enough Bulldogs able to get the job done consistently.

Laird could not hide his disappointment at the defeat and he shook his head when questioned about the trend of each quarter.

“It is hard to work out, I can’t work out the logic of it,” he said. “The game was a matter of inches at times, but we did not play well enough for loving enough.

“The players showed a lot of guts, but it is about winning and it is an empty year.”

Central's Jarrod Schiller tries to get away from Sturt's Benjamin Hansen.

SCOREBOARD

STURT 3.4 6.4 10.6 13.8 (86)

CENTRAL DISTRICT 2.4 4.8 9.10 11.13 (79)

BEST - Sturt: Battersby, Page, Stephens, Crocker, Colquhoun, Hone. Central: Glenn, Holman, D. Fort, Barmby, Goodrem, J. Schiller.

GOALS - Sturt: Hone 3, Hansen, Beard, Dodd 2, F. Evans, McMahon, Osborn, Read. Central: Glenn, Butcher 3, Holman 2, Milne, Hoskin, D. Fort.

INJURIES - Central: Stephenson (ankle).

UMPIRES - Medlin, Hundertmark, Schramm.