AFL (Aussie Rules) - Weekend in Review

Bulldogs go Second after Downing Pies

MELBOURNE—The Western Bulldogs claimed second spot on the AFL ladder after beating a gallant Collingwood by 10 points at Telstra Dome.

The Bulldogs were unusually sloppy with their disposal early, but lifted through a seven-goal third term and won their fourth successive game 15.9 (99) to 13.11 (89) before a crowd of 44,885.

The win took Rodney Eade's side to second spot - half a game behind Geelong and half a game clear of Hawthorn in third - and left Collingwood in seventh place.

But the Magpies were far from disgraced, as they entered the game without three key players and were then badly denied some of their run in the second half when injuries mounted.

Young forward Ben Reid was off the ground from quarter-time and Anthony Rocca joined him in the rooms halfway through the third term when he injured his leg kicking downfield.

At one point Collingwood only had one fit player on the bench while half-back Marty Clarke spent some time in the rooms, but he at least returned before three-quarter time.

It was not long after Rocca left the field that the Bulldogs made their charge, booting five goals in 13 minutes to reel in a deficit of 23 points and enter the final quarter two points in front.

Robert Murphy then snapped a goal in the opening minute of the final term to give the Bulldogs some breathing space and his third goal, plus one to skipper Brad Johnson, eventually sealed the win.

Collingwood closed to within six points with about six minutes left when Dane Swan dispossessed Brian Lake and kicked an inspiring goal, but the Bulldogs held on.

The Doggies' star runners Adam Cooney, Daniel Giansiracusa, Ryan Griffen and Lindsay Gilbee got enough of the ball to continually hurt Collingwood, while Mitch Hahn also booted three goals.

Collingwood's Heath Shaw (31 disposals) played an excellent game at half-back and marked superbly, after he was tagged out of the game in last week's loss to Carlton.

Ben Johnson also played well to keep Jason Akermanis in check, apart from the Brownlow medallist's brilliant goal on the run in the third term, which began the Bulldogs' charge.

Ruck Chris Bryan, captain Scott Burns, midfielder Scott Pendlebury and Tyson Goldsack in defence also did well for the Magpies.

But Collingwood will rue not having made the most of their opportunities when playing well in the second quarter.

They booted five goals, but Tarkyn Lockyer and Rhyce Shaw both squandered two easy shots each, which should have put the Magpies further in front than 10 points at the main break.

Collingwood badly misses the suspended Travis Cloke and injured Josh Fraser and Leon Davis.

With their forward line depleted, the Pies took the punt on Rocca, who had been troubled by ankle soreness in recent weeks.

Rocca was quiet in the first half, but snapped a goal in the third term before he hobbled off after passing to Cameron Wood.

__________________

Bombers Hold off Surging Blues

Angus Monfries of the Essendon Bombers. (Mark Dadswell/Getty Images)

MELBOURNE—A late flurry of goals enabled Essendon to kill off a Carlton comeback and notch their second successive AFL victory at the MCG.

The Bombers won 20.16 (136) to 15.11 (101), pulling away with four goals in the final six minutes of the match, three of them coming to speedster Andy Lovett.

They were among 14 majors between the two sides in an incredibly free-scoring last term.

The Blues, who notched comeback victories in their past two matches against Port Adelaide and Collingwood, looked on track to do so again midway through the final quarter.

They had trailed by as much as 41 points early in the second term and were still down by 36 points in time-on in the third quarter.

The Blues then piled on the last two goals of the third term and the first four of the last to hit the front.

But rather than hit the panic button, the Bombers simply continued to attack and they tide turned their way as they kicked six goals in time-on of the final quarter to end up with the 35-point win.

Youngster Angus Monfries was superb for the Bombers, spending time both up forward and in the midfield and finishing with four goals, in what was one of his best AFL games.

Midfielder Jobe Watson did most of the grunt work, helping his side to dominate the midfield in the early stages, when they built their back lead and again playing an important part late in the game.

For the Blues, Brendan Fevola was sensational, with seven of his side's 15 goals, soundly beating Essendon veteran Dustin Fletcher.

Fevola kicked a stunning goal in the last term, from 50m out tight on the boundary, to keep his side in the hunt 27 minutes into the quarter, before the Bombers added four more.

Fevola was earlier involved in some damaging collisions, connecting with his knee to the face of Essendon's Henry Slattery in a first term marking contest, with Slattery stretchered off the ground and unable to return.

He also fell into team-mate Brad Fisher, after tripping while on the lead in the second quarter, with Fisher limping off the ground, although he later returned to play a role in the Blues' surge.

Midfielders Nick Stevens and Marc Murphy were among the Blues' better players, with Stevens particularly inspirational as Carlton stormed into the lead in the final quarter.

__________________

Swans made to Work against Demons

Swans Forward Barry Hall. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

CANBERRA—Barry Hall has booted five goals to lead a Sydney side made to work hard for their 40-point victory against cellar dwellers Melbourne at Manuka Oval.

A wasteful Hall monstered the Demons defenders throughout the contest but finished with 5.5 despite all the the full forward's shots for goal being gettable.

He finished with 16 touches and 11 marks in the 17.12 (114) to 11.8 (74) result in Canberra.

The Demons closed to within 11 points in the third term before Sydney booted the next four goals to shore up their place in the top four.

Besides Hall, Martin Mattner was outstanding with his run out of defence for the Swans and midfield general Brett Kirk continued his strong season in the clinches.

For the Demons, Matthew Bate did his best to inspire his teammates with four majors while Lynden Dunn kept Adam Goodes quiet and Aaron Davey sparked his side's third quarter fightback.

Jude Bolton, who celebrated his 200th match, labelled the encounter against the bottom-placed team a danger game this week but his side's biggest problem in the opening term was working out who should be on the interchange bench.

Following a goal midway through the opening term, the Swans had seven players off the ground at one time before rectifying the problem with plenty of pointing and gesticulating going on.

On the field the Swans had precious few problems early on with Hall enjoying acres of space to boot three goals in the opening 12 minutes.

The Swans cantered to a 30-point quarter-time lead and edged that out to a 32-point halftime edge as Bate kept the Demons in the contest with three first-half goals.

A rejuvenated Melbourne took the game to the Swans after the long break with Davey sparking the Demons as they booted five of the next six majors.

Sydney's radar in front of goal started to become a little scrambled - they kicked 2.7 over one period - before Michael O'Loughlin's second goal stretched their lead out to 17 points at the final break.

Mattner capped his strong performance with his second goal early in the final term before majors to Nick Malceski and Lewis Roberts-Thomson iced the game.

Sydney's Ryan O'Keefe is in line for a fine after colliding with umpire Stefan Grun in the opening term.

The Demons host Brisbane at the MCG on Sunday while the Swans enjoy a bye.

__________________

AFL Collated Results and Ladder-Round 13

• ST KILDA 4.3 6.3 9.5 10.5 (65)
  
• FREMANTLE 2.0 5.2 7.6 8.9 (57)
  

Goals: St Kilda: N Riewoldt 3 B Goddard 2 J Gram 2 S Gilbert L Hayes L Montagna. Fremantle: M Pavlich 5 J Carr R Crowley R Murphy. Best: St Kilda: N Riewoldt R Harvey B Goddard J Gwilt L Ball J Gram. Fremantle: M Pavlich R Palmer B Schammer A Sandilands C Mayne. Injuries: St Kilda: L Hayes (hamstring). Fremantle: M Johnson (ankle) L McPharlin (ribs). Reports: Nil. Umpires: S McBurney L Farmer S Jeffery. Official Crowd: 22,440 at Telstra Dome.

• NORTH MELBOURNE 2.4 7.8 10.10 15.13 (103)
  
• HAWTHORN 2.3 5.8 7.12 10.16 (76)
  

Goals: North Melbourne: L Thomas 4 S Grant 3 M Campbell 2 C Jones 2 D Harris B Harvey N Thompson D Wells. Hawthorn: L Hodge 3 J Roughead 2 M Williams 2 T Boyle L Franklin S Mitchell. Best: North Melbourne: B Harvey D Harris M Firrito D Wells S Watt L Thomas S Grant J Gibson. Hawthorn: S Mitchell J Morton B Guerra L Hodge G Birchall J Roughead. Injuries: North Melbourne: Nil. Hawthorn: T Clarke (corked quad) replaced in the selected side by T Tuck). Reports: Nil. Umpires: M Ellis S McInerney K Nicholls. Official Crowd: 42,508 at MCG.

• RICHMOND 9.1 12.3 19.6 20.7 (127)
  
• PORT ADELAIDE 6.2 11.6 14.8 19.9 (123)
  

Goals: Richmond: C Hughes 6 M Morton 5 M Richardson 3 N Brown 2 T Cotchin C Hyde J McMahon J Riewoldt. Port Adelaide: D Motlop 6 B Ebert 2 T Logan 2 W Tredrea 2 T Boak S Burgoyne T Chaplin K Cornes R Gray B Lade D Rodan. Best: Richmond: J Bowden C Hughes S Tuck N Foley C Newman M Morton J McMahon. Port Adelaide: D Cassisi D Motlop D Rodan D Brogan W Tredrea. Injuries: Richmond: L McGuane (hamstring). Port Adelaide: P Burgoyne (hamstring) S Salopek (Achilles). Reports: Nil. Umpires: H Kennedy J Schmitt G Fila. Official Crowd: 20,923 at AAMI Stadium.

• BRISBANE LIONS 3.3 4.7 7.14 11.17 (83)
  
• ADELAIDE 2.5 6.7 8.10 10.10 (70)
  

Goals: Brisbane Lions: M Clark 3 J Brown 2 R Copeland 2 A Corrie 2 J Brennan T Notting. Adelaide: J Porplyzia 2 N Bock B Burton R Douglas N Gill L Jericho I Maric S Stevens B Vince. Best: Brisbane Lions: L Power J Brennan A Corrie M Clark M Rischitelli. Adelaide: A McLeod G Johncock B Rutten N Bock B Vince M Doughty. Injuries: Nil. Reports: Nil. Umpires: M James S Meredith S Ryan. Official Crowd: 29,964 at Gabba.

• GEELONG 7.3 13.6 23.10 28.14 (182)
  
• WEST COAST 1.5 2.9 3.14 5.17 (47)
  

Goals: Geelong: P Chapman 5 C Mooney 5 J Kelly 4 G Ablett 2 S Johnson 2 T Lonergan 2 M Rooke 2 T Varcoe 2 J Bartel A Mackie B Prismall H Taylor. West Coast: M LeCras 3 D Cox A Hunter. Best: Geelong: G Ablett C Mooney P Chapman J Kelly D Wojcinski T Harley C Enright. West Coast: M LeCras A Embley B Jones D Cox. Injuries: Geelong: M Stokes (knee) replaced in selected side by D Wojcinski). West Coast: A Selwood (throat). Reports: Nil. Umpires: C Donlon B Rosebury C Kamolins. Official Crowd: 38,414 at Subiaco Oval.

• SYDNEY 7.2 10.5 12.10 17.12 (114)
  
• MELBOURNE 2.2 5.3 10.5 11.8 (74)
  

Goals: Sydney: B Hall 5 A Buchanan 2 M Mattner 2 M O'Loughlin 2 A Goodes D Jolly N Malceski R O'Keefe H Playfair L Roberts-Thomson. Melbourne: M Bate 4 A Wonaeamirri 3 C Bruce P Johnson B McLean B Miller. Best: Sydney: M Mattner B Kirk B Hall H Playfair C Bolton J Bolton D Jolly. Melbourne: M Bate A Davey L Dunn P Wheatley C Bruce J McDonald. Injuries: Nil. Reports: Nil. Umpires: D Sully S Grun M Head. Official Crowd: 11,437 at Manuka Oval.

• ESSENDON 7.5 8.9 12.13 20.16 (136)
  
• CARLTON 1.2 5.4 9.6 15.11 (101)
  

Goals: Essendon: M Lloyd 4 A Monfries 4 A Lovett 3 J Neagle 2 K Reimers 2 L Jetta J Laycock S Lucas A McPhee M McVeigh. Carlton: B Fevola 7 A Carrazzo 2 N Stevens 2 E Betts B Fisher M Murphy K Simpson. Best: Essendon: A Monfries J Watson M Lloyd B Stanton A Welsh D Hille. Carlton: B Fevola N Stevens M Murphy B Gibbs K Simpson A Carrazzo. Injuries: Essendon: H Slattery (fractured cheekbone). Carlton: A Carrazzo (concussion) C Judd (concussion). Reports: Nil. Umpires: R Chamberlain S McLaren J Armstrong. Official Crowd: 59,177 at MCG.

• WESTERN BULLDOGS 2.2 5.4 12.5 15.9 (99)
  
• COLLINGWOOD 1.3 6.8 11.9 13.11 (89)
  

Goals: Western Bulldogs: M Hahn 3 R Murphy 3 B Johnson 2 S Welsh 2 J Akermanis N Eagleton L Gilbee R Griffen W Minson. Collingwood: S Burns 2 P Medhurst 2 D Swan 2 C Wood 2 C Bryan T Lockyer S Pendlebury A Rocca R Shaw. Best: Western Bulldogs: A Cooney R Griffen D Morris D Giansiracusa D Cross R Murphy N Eagleton. Collingwood: H Shaw B Johnson C Bryan S Burns T Goldsack S Pendlebury S Wellingham. Umpires: M Stevic M Vozzo S Wenn. Official Crowd: 44,885 at Telstra Dome.

Leading Goalkickers

61: L Franklin (Hawthorn) 1

57: B Fevola (Carlton) 7

47: M Pavlich (Fremantle) 5

43: D Bradshaw (Brisbane) 0

41: J Brown (Brisbane) 2

40: J Roughead (Hawthorn) 2

39: D Motlop (Pt Adel) 6

38: M Richardson (Richmond) 3

35: P Medhurst (C'wood) 2

33: M O'Loughlin (Sydney) 2