THE SYDNEY Swans have ended the Bulldogs' two-match winning run with a 43-point victory at Manuka Oval on Sunday afternoon, in what was a somewhat flat performance from Rodney Eade's men.
The Swans were simply harder at the ball and the man, while the Dogs appeared to have a collective bad day as the 2005 premiers raced to a 15.10 (100) to 8.9 (57) win – their fifth for the season and third at the Canberra venue.
The sun was shining, the air was chilly, and unfortunately for the Dogs, the large crowd of 14,517 spectators were predominantly dressed in red and white.
The Swans had more consistent contributors, and while Nathan Eagleton and Daniel Cross amassed their usual swag of possessions through the midfield, Sydney co-captain Brett Kirk restricted seven-time best and fairest winner Scott West to only 16 touches.
Sydney won without the services of defender Tadhg Kennelly (virus) and forward Nick Davis (hamstring tightness), who were both late withdrawals, while the Dogs brought in Matthew Robbins – who kicked three goals – at the expense of Andrew McDougall.
Brian Harris and Brad Johnson flew the flag for their side with Harris standing tall in defence and keeping Barry Hall at bay, while Johnson started in the middle and worked his way forward.
The Swans dominated play in the first half and led for its entirety, with their big men exploiting the Dogs' lack of height in defence and slotting goals at will.
The ‘away’ side was also easily winning the clearances and had 23 to 13 racked up, and had doubled the number of times the Dogs went inside 50 with 30 to 15 entries.
By the long break, ruckmen Darren Jolly and Peter Everitt both figured on the scoreboard and had four goals between them, while Adam Schneider and Michael O'Loughlin had two apiece.
Harris kept Hall goalless before half time, while Dale Morris was celebrating his 50th game in style with an impressive performance in defence as he alternated between manning both Ryan O'Keefe and O'Loughlin.
Johnson was the Dogs' shining light in the first half and had two goals and 12 disposals to his name, while West – who was being closely shadowed by Kirk – had a quiet two terms with only six possessions.
Five unanswered goals to last year's grand finalists had the Dogs facing a 38-point deficit and seemingly on the ropes as the sides ran out for the second half.
The third term was a low-scoring affair and each side managed two goals apiece, with the Dogs slightly restricted by the decision to play Jason Akermanis and Adam Cooney down back in an attempt to prevent a blow-out.
With the difference 37 points heading into the final stanza, Akermanis gave the Dogs a glimmer of hope early when he slotted a goal in the opening minute, but O'Loughlin quickly cancelled it out.
Jarrad McVeigh slotted another six minutes later, and the Dogs managed just one more goal for the game with Robbins bobbing up again to nail his third as the clock ticked over into overtime.
The Bulldogs now face Carlton at the MCG next Sunday afternoon, while the Swans host the Bombers at the SCG on Saturday night.
SYDNEY 5.4 10.6 12.8 15.10 (100)WESTERN BULLDOGS 3.3 4.4 6.7 8.9 (57)
GOALSSydney: M O'Loughlin 4, D Jolly 3, A Schneider 3, A Buchanan, P Everitt, B Hall, N Malceski, J McVeigh. Western Bulldogs: M Robbins 3, B Johnson 2, J Akermanis, M Hahn, F Ray.
BESTSydney: P Everitt, D Jolly, A Goodes, M O'Loughlin, A Schneider, N Malceski, B Kirk. Western Bulldogs: B Harris, B Johnson, N Eagleton, D Cross.
INJURIESSydney: J Crouch (hamstring), N Davis (hamstring) replaced in selected side by H Grundy, T Kennelly (virus) replaced in selected side by S Dempster. Western Bulldogs: A McDougall replaced in selected side by M Robbins.
Reports: Nil.
Umpires: M Vozzo S Ryan K Nicholls.
Official crowd: 14,517 at Manuka Oval.
