MATCH SUMMARY
North Melbourne has inflicted the Western Bulldogs’ sixth loss of the 2019 season, by 25 points at Marvel Stadium on Saturday.
The Kangaroos held sway for most of the contest, and led by more than five goals during the third quarter, before a six-goal burst saw the Dogs hit the front in the last quarter.
But just as the Bulldogs looked like they would finish stronger, the Kangaroos responded with the last five goals of the game to notch their third win of the season.
After scoring back-to-back wins against Richmond and Brisbane, the Dogs have dropped the last two games ahead of an interstate trip next week to play West Coast.
THE DEFINING MOMENTS
There was an element of uncertainty coming into the game with the impending news regarding North coach Brad Scott, and after an even start the Kangaroos put the foot down in the second quarter. They kicked the five goals to one in the term to finish with 10 for the half – nine of which came from turnovers from the Bulldogs.
The 20-point lead turned into 32 late in the third and out of nowhere the Dogs stayed in the hunt with two goals heading into the final change, and the first four of the last quarter to incredibly hit the lead. They even had chances to extend the margin, but a circuit-breaking goal to Ben Brown turned the momentum. Sam Lloyd’s third goal at the nine-minute mark was the last major for the Dogs.
SHINING LIGHTS
Lloyd was a constant for the Bulldogs in attack, kicking three goals from six scoring shots and finding plenty of the ball.
Josh Dunkley continued his midfield purple patch, with his work on close a feature (he had a game-high 20 contested possessions).
Zaine Cordy’s switch to the ruck in the second half helped the Bulldogs’ midfield get on top during their six-goal burst, and Caleb Daniel did his best to kick-start his team’s forward thrusts.
STATS SHEET
The Bulldogs narrowly won the contested possessions (135-131) and clearances (37-35), but could only muster 49 inside 50s.
The opposition’s accuracy was also telling for the second week in a row. Geelong’s 21.7 got the job done last week, and the Roos’ 18.7 won them the game despite the Bulldogs having the same number of scoring shots.
Daniel and Dunkley (six tackles) each finished with 29 disposals, while Marcus Bontempelli racked up 25 touches and took eight marks.
Pat Lipinski collected 23 disposals in his first game at AFL level this season.
MATCH DETAILS
WESTERN BULLDOGS 5.2 6.6 9.9 13.12.90
NORTH MELBOURNE 5.2 10.4 13.5 18.7.115
GOALS
Western Bulldogs: Lloyd 3, English 2, Liberatore 2, Wallis, Bontempelli, Suckling, Naughton, Johannisen, Smith
North Melbourne: Brown 3, Larkey 3, Wood 3, Anderson 2, Zurhaar 2, Thomas 2, Cunnington, Davies-Uniacke, Polec
BEST
Western Bulldogs: Dunkley, Bontempelli, Daniel, Liberatore, Lloyd
North Melbourne: Goldstein, Cunnington, Tarrant, Wood, Higgins, Brown
Crowd: 26,156
NEXT WEEK
Round 11, West Coast v Western Bulldogs, Optus Stadium, Sunday June 2, 5.20pm AEST
