Australian Football

Match Report

Down the Port Road at the Alberton Oval, the Magpies hosted the Panthers. The Magpies were pretty much the Panthers' bogey side last season, with both games taken out by the black & whites. The Round 2 match was an 11-goal hiding, then later in the year in Round 18 it was a 31-point win. That match was the third loss of four which would prematurely end South's season, ultimately nailed home by the Bulldogs. The Panthers were flying up until last weekend, their unbeaten run ended by the Blues. The Magpies on the other hand had some rockets stuck in by coach Chad Cornes, who accused the AFL contingent of being "selfish", their loss to the Eagles ramming home his point.

The first term could be considered a goal fest given the conditions, the Panthers taking a quarter-time lead of four points mainly due to the Magpies inaccuracy. At the first change the scoreboard read 4.2 to 3.4. Port then upped the ante in the second quarter as they bagged 6.3 to South's 3.1 to take over control and went into the long break with a 16-point lead. From here it was all Magpies, the Panthers' stars all but made spectators as the home side broke the game wide open with an 8.1 third quarter. South were now feeling the pinch of inaccuracy as they scored 3.5 as they found themselves down by seven goals at three quarter-time. The final term was not one for the highlight reel, the Magpies had already done the damage and took their foot off the pedal, finishing the match scoring 3.3 to the Panthers' 2.3 to record a 48-point victory.

Kane Mitchell was named best for Port, while Matt Rose was voted South's best.