Swans v Bulldogs: Same margin, same venue - Doggies down Sydney again

We’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.

Advertisement

This was published 7 years ago

Swans v Bulldogs: Same margin, same venue - Doggies down Sydney again

By Rohan Connolly
Updated

WESTERN BULLDOGS 1.2 5.3 11.4 13.5 (83)
SYDNEY
2.5 6.7 8.9 11.13 (79)
Goals - Western Bulldogs:
J Stringer 3, T Liberatore 2, J Johannissen, J Redpath, J Roughead, L Hunter, L Jong, M Bontempelli, S Biggs, W Minson. Sydney: L Franklin 5, L Parker 3, C Sinclair, G Hewett, J McVeigh.
Best - Sydney: Franklin, Parker, Kennedy, Hannebery, Rampe, McVeigh, Mills. Western Bulldogs: Hunter, Boyd, Morris, Liberatore, Bontempelli, Picken, Wallis, Johannisen.
Umpires: Justin Schmitt, Matt Stevic, Robert Findlay, Leigh Fisher.
Crowd: 33,386 at SCG

The Western Bulldogs might well go on to big things this September. And if they do, Saturday's thrilling four-point win over Sydney will be seen as a pivotal moment of their season.

Jason Johannisen, playing his first senior game since round four, delivered a famous victory when he goaled from 45 metres out to put the Dogs in front with just two seconds left on the clock.

It was a repeat of history, Luke Beveridge's side reprising last year's victory by the same margin at the same venue against the same opponent, and this time the consequences could be even more profound, with the win taking the Dogs to equal second on points where a loss would have left them eighth.

Deja vu: Bulldogs players celebrate their memorable win.

Deja vu: Bulldogs players celebrate their memorable win.Credit: Getty Images

A big third quarter had put them in a winning position, but Sydney, as the Swans do so often, simply kept on coming. The Swans kicked three straight goals to hit the front and looked the winners until the dramatic final passage of play, in which Caleb Daniel chipped a short pass to Marcus Bontempelli, who found Johannisen in the clear.

Under the most intense pressure imaginable, his kick never looked like missing.

The Western Bulldogs had the better of play early, but it was Sydney who squandered the better chances.

They might have been further in front than their nine-point quarter-time lead, Franklin finishing the term with 1.2 and Luke Parker hitting the post with a snap right on the siren. And those misses seemed even more costly just seven minutes into the second term, by which time the Bulldogs had slammed on three goals.

Advertisement
Dog done it: Jason Johannisen after booting the winning goal.

Dog done it: Jason Johannisen after booting the winning goal.Credit: Getty Images

Two of them fell to the previously inconspicuous Jake Stringer – the first a lovely snap from the spills of a marking contest, the next a tremendous individual effort, bursting through a tackle then snapping on his right foot from a tight angle.

And when Bontempelli goaled from a pretty dubious free kick for marking interference, the Dogs were suddenly eight points to the good.

One thing Sydney never do, however, is panic, and their patience was rewarded soon enough with a three-goal burst of their own. Franklin had already looked dangerous, and he was now able to contribute even more meaningfully with the next couple for the Swans, two set shots from just on 50, the latter after a lovely baulk and pass from the impressive-looking James Rose.

The Dogs and Swans traded goals again just on half-time, their 10-point lead at the long break indicative of a contest in which both sides were as good as level-pegging for all the major statistics, but in which the home side always looked more capable of turning their forward thrusts into scoreboard returns.

Sydney had crept out to a 16-point lead within 90 seconds of the resumption thanks to Parker when the Bulldogs reprised their second-quarter burst. This time, however, it lasted longer and returned even more interest, to the tune of five goals straight.

One man was pivotal and – as good as he is and will continue to be – Tom Liberatore won't deliver too many more inspired passages of dominance than his start to the third term.

He created the Dogs' first two goals, the first a long ball allowing Stringer to mark in the goal square, the second after he somehow worked himself clear of a pack of bodies and planted a pass on Redpath's chest.

If that wasn't enough, Liberatore booted the third and fifth goals of the Dogs' dominant period himself, along with one from Hunter, who was also inspired.

The Dogs appeared to be going away with it early in the last term after a very costly error from Dan Hannebery, who gave away a 50-metre penalty to Will Minson for not returning the ball correctly after a free kick, the big ruckman making no mistake.

Franklin's brilliance, however, with his fourth and fifth goals after one from youngster George Hewett, again swung the momentum.

It takes something special to beat the Swans, winner of their last 10 games at the SCG, under those sorts of circumstances. Not for the first time, though, Beveridge's brave Bulldogs were able to find it.

VOTES

Lance Franklin (Syd) ....8

Luke Parker (Syd).........8

Lachie Hunter (WB)......8

Josh Kennedy (Syd).....7

Dale Morris (Wb)..........7

Most Viewed in Sport

Loading