Norwood runs riot on deflated Central District

NORWOOD has made a statement to the rest of the competition in beating Central District by 43 points at Elizabeth.

NORWOOD has made a statement to the rest of the competition in beating Central District by 43 points at Elizabeth.

Only inaccurate goalkicking prevented the top-of-the-table Redlegs from a 12-goal romp.

Five points separated the sides at quarter-time but Norwood was playing much better footy from the outset and the game was on its terms in the second and third quarters.

Central was sluggish at times, uninterested at others, regularly turned the ball over and gave Redleg players too much time and space.

The Redlegs amassed a staggering 33 more inside 50s (60-27), almost 100 more disposals (384-282) and nearly doubled the Bulldogs' clearances (44-23).

It was the first time this century Central has lost to a club three times in a row at the Ponderosa.

Bulldogs coach Roy Laird said his side was comprehensively outplayed and the final margin was flattering. "It was a poor day all round ... a very ordinary effort," Laird said.

"Part of footy is being mentally tough and getting yourself up to perform (but) we had too many down in that area today, too many passing the buck.

"It was a good experience for our blokes to see the brand of footy the leading team in the competition plays and what we need to strive for."

The story in the early stages was the Redlegs' wayward goalkicking and whether it would come back to haunt them.

Mitch Grigg, Mark Evans, Alex Georgiou and Josh Donohue all butchered shots they should have kicked in the first quarter, as Norwood struggled to make the most of its dominance.

An opportunistic goal on an incredibly tight angle from Mark Evans got the Redlegs off to an ideal start to the second term and from there they never looked back.

In the third quarter Central rarely had the ball in its forward half and was restricted to just one behind and five inside 50s.

It was partly because of Norwood's defensive pressure and the Redlegs half-back line repelling everything that came at them, but also due to the home side's horrible field kicking.

"With their pressure then came poor kicking mistakes, poor decisions, poor ball-handling and it just snowballed into being a whitewash," Laird said.

As the game slipped away, the Bulldogs had nobody who was able to step up and drag the club back into the contest.

Norwood had a stack of contributors, though none better than Crows-listed Grigg.

In his second straight best-on-ground performance, the 20-year-old midfielder had 34 touches, 10 clearances and seven inside 50s.

Central made the final margin a little more flattering thanks to three fourth-quarter goals but it did not take any gloss off what was a ruthless Redlegs triumph.

"Elizabeth is a really tough place to win," Norwood coach Nathan Bassett said.

"Our goalkicking wasn't great ... but we put a lot of pressure on them and I thought it was an organised, disciplined performance."