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Sunday, 6 June 2004 |
AFL Ladder : End of Round 11
7:29:26 PM  comment [] trackback [] G!
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Swans upset Saints in masterful display
Sydney has caused a major boilover by defeating the previously unbeaten St Kilda by 36 points at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The Swans won the round 11 AFL match 17.10 (112) to 11.10 (76) Before the match, Swans coach Paul Roos asked for an even contribution from all his players and by full-time he had got such an effort. Whether or not he has provided the other 14 teams in the AFL with a blueprint on how to beat the Saints is another question. But what Roos and his players have shown is how effective a short-kicking game plan can be and how important commitment in defence is in combating an attacking force such as St Kilda. The Swans got off to the perfect start to the match kicking four goals to one in the opening 10 minutes. Barry Hall kicked two of these goals, marking strongly and taking advantage of Sydney's excellent clearances out of the midfield. Sydney was employing their short-kicking game early on and Matthew Nicks' first goal was an example of its smart use. The Swans defence was on song against a St Kilda forward line that has run rampant in recent matches. They had numbers back in the defensive 50, frustrating St Kilda's midfield who were looking for plausible targets. Brent Guerra's major was the only scoring highlight for the visitors in the first term. The Swans were also pressuring the Saints into mistakes across all parts of the field. Steven Baker lazily hand-balled to Sydney's Heath James when trying to clear the ball out of its own 50, allowing the young Swan, who had replaced the injured Nick Davis before the match, to kick a major unopposed. The home side had a chance to extend their lead in the final moments of the quarter when O'Loughlin marked right of the posts. But the talented Swans forward skewed the ball to kick a behind, leaving the score at 4.4 (28) to 1.1 (7) at the first change. St Kilda coach Grant Thomas got stuck into his players during the break, and at least for the first 15 minutes of the second term it seemed to have worked. They kicked three straight goals through Nick Dal Santo, Matt Maguire and Justin Koschitzke to close the gap on the scoreboard. But as the momentum looked to have switched to the competition leaders, the Swans struck back with three goals of their own. Hall kicked his third for the match, finishing off a great run from Ben Matthews up the left flank and Jarrad McVeigh goaled himself soon after. Veteran Paul Williams rounded out the quarter to keep the Swans comfortably ahead at half-time, 7.7 (49) to 4.5 (29). Second half As with the second quarter, Sydney answered any challenge the Saints threw at them after the main break. Dal Santo kicked his second for St Kilda via Fraser Gehrig's first disposal of the match but the Swans replied with three goals through O'Loughlin, Mathews and Hall to take a 32-point lead. The Saints worked on reducing the gap on the scoreboard and goals to Luke Ball and Robert Harvey helped their cause. Harvey's major was courteous of a spectacular running mark from Nick Reiwoldt, displaying the aerial skills of the blond-headed Saint. Again, though, Sydney showed their composure to respond appropriately. Nicks added three goals to his match-total and a brilliant snap from Jude Bolton saw the Swans near the century mark. Aaron Hamill goaled in the final minute of the term to give St Kilda fans a glimmer of hope, although they still trailed 14.9 (93) to 8.7 (55) at the three-quarter time. But whatever chance the Saints had of coming back, it was dispelled early in the final term. Hall kicked his fifth goal and Nick Fosdike "stole" a major from O'Loughlin after the Swans forward was tackled on the line before placing the ball just inside the field of play. As O'Loughlin went to tap it through the posts, Fosdike ran through to get his boot to ball for his only goal of the match. Late goals to Koschitzke, Riewoldt and Leigh Montagna improved the score line as the Swans ran out 36-point winners. For Sydney, Hall and Nicks were impressive while Leo Barry did what every other team has struggle to do so far this season, keeping Gehrig goal-less. While the loss would be a blow for St Kilda, they will still maintain an eight-point buffer on top of the AFL ladder after the completion of round 11. 6:21:45 PM comment [] trackback [] G!
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Swans Stop Saints
Back from the SCG. The Saints were beaten all over the ground by the swans - dunno what was wrong. I guess the swans wanted to win more.... [listening to: Down in the River to Pray - Alison Krauss ]6:07:39 PM comment [] trackback [] G!
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Off to see the footy at the SCG
Billy and I are going to the SCG today to see the Saints play the Swans Lot of stories about the game:
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