Central District’sDemi Sonnemanlaunches the balldown the ground. PHOTO: Hannah Rex
CENTRAL District failed to make up any ground on the top five after it was easily beaten by Port Adelaide by 34 points in SANFL action on Saturday afternoon.
The Dogs found themselves on the back foot after Magpies captain Cam Sutcliffe kicked the opening goal, but they soon responded through Nick Gillard and Justin Hoskin.
Gillard added a second, but Mitch Mead and Peter Ladhams also found the scoreboard as the Pies led by two points at the first break.
Port extended its buffer early, through Tobin Cox and Billy Frampton, but the Dogs hit back hard via Troy Menzel, Brendan Dew and Isaya McKenzie to snatch the lead.
It was a see-sawing affair as Trent McKenzie and Boyd Woodcock then booted goals for Port, before Menzel and Cox cancelled each other out late in the term.
The Magpies looked to be edging ahead as they took a 10-point lead into half-time.
Gillard slotted his third goal seven minutes into the second half, but Port kicked away through Steven Motlop, Frampton (twice) and Mead.
The Dogs were resilient, as Dew, Menzel and Jarrod Schiller all kicked goals before three-quarter-time, but their side still trailed by 15 points.
Central ran out of a gas in the final stanza as Frampton, Kane Farrell, Ladhams and Cox all blew the Dogs away.
For Central, Kyle Presbury was terrific with 32 touches and nine marks, while Jarrod Schiller finished with 30 disposals, two goals and three marks.
Luke Habel also continued his solid form with 26 touches and eight marks.
Women fall short
In the women’s competition, Central District succumbed to Norwood by 68 points.
The Dogs were blown out of the water from the start, as the Redlegs kicked four first-quarter goals – two each to Leah Cutting and Jo Hill.
The Legs continued their bombardment in the second stanza as Michelle Reid, Thalia Meyer and Jo Hill all extended the margin to 44 points at half-time, with the Dogs yet to register a score.
Jayme-Lee Sonneman soon broke through, as did Katelyn Rosenzweig, as Central won the third quarter to take a positive out of the day.
The Redlegs then sunk the boot in and added four more goals to bury the Dogs.
Demi Sonneman had plenty of the ball with 19 touches, while Kimberley Fry had 13 touches and eight tackles.
