Week 1 Round 10 Hostplus SANFL Snapshot – Saturday

It certainly wasn’t pretty but Central District took its chances to carve out a 17-point win against Woodville-West Torrens at X Convenience Oval.

Confronting the torrential rain head on, the Bulldogs took control of the contest in the third quarter when they kicked three of their six goals while holding the Eagles scoreless.

With nuggety midfielder Harry Grant prominent around the stoppages, the hosts had Nick Lange convert four minutes after half-time before wingman Luca Whitelum showed off his class with two goals in succession before time-on.

After soccering through from close range, Whitelum was then the beneficiary of a clever knock on from teammate Aiden Grace as he sailed through a goal from 45m on the run.

Boasting a 24-point lead at the final change, the Dogs were able to hold on despite registering a scoreless quarter themselves as they absorbed everything the visitors could throw at them.

”I know when the pressure is on our group, whether it be the weather like today or the scoreboard, they will have a crack at anything to get us up,” Central coach Paul Thomas told Channel 7 after the win.

Prolific rover Grant relished the conditions as he racked up a game-high 29 disposals, 11 clearances and a 40m set shot goal to be adjudged the Coles Value Player.

From there, you could throw a blanket over the Bulldogs’ host of solid contributors in a great team win as dashing defenders Billy Iles (19 disposals) and Jez McLennan (16 disposals) provided plenty of rebound.

Disciplined Dog Lewis Cowham drew high praise from coach Thomas for his defensive role on last year’s Shearman Medallist, Riley Knight, who was kept to 13 disposals.

”Harry got the task on Riley Knight and did it very well for us – it was a great midfield battle,” Thomas said.

There was less reliance on Central veterans Jarrod Schiller and Justin Hoskin, who collected 15 disposals each while Isaiah Dudley looked lively in his first Hostplus League game for the season with 12 touches, including a goal assist to Grace late in the second term.

Kicking their lowest score in five years (4.2 26), the Eagles worked hard to peg things back while laying a mammoth 111 tackles for the match, while also taking 17 more marks.

Captain Joseph Sinor made a welcome return to the side from injury to collect 21 disposals while applying 11 tackles while Luke Beecken was clean with his 23 disposals and four marks.

Key Eagles defender Rory Lehmann repelled many Central forays as he often found himself as his team’s last line of defence once the ball got out over the back inside 50m.