By Ajit Alister
6:47 PM Wed 08 July, 2009
Well what an exciting round of AFL matches we have seen this week. There are still many questions to be answered in regards to where some of the teams are at but one things for sure is that its gonna be a very interesting run home to the finals.
First we saw Collingwood take on Essendon and after the Bombers had pumped Carlton the week before a tight match was expected. Collingwood on the other didn't think so and continued to gather momentum winning their 6th straight game by 35 points.
The Melbourne Demons surprised everyone by recording their second win of the year knocking off West Coast by 20 points. Port Adelaide at home were to strong for the Brisbane Lions winning by 48 points and at the same time keeping their finals hopes alive. Adelaide accounted for the struggling Tigers with a 17 point win, however in good news for Richmond fans Legend Kevin Sheedy announced that he will put his hand up for the head coaching position for next season.
Hawthorne's Premiership hangover got even worse when they copped an 88 point hammering from the Western Bulldogs, the team they beat to get into last year's Grand Final. Sydney and North Melbourne have both been struggling this year compared to previous seasons, however the Swans managed to get the better of the Roos winning by 15 points in a scrappy affair.
Carlton has kept in the running for a top 8 spot winning a crucial away game against Fremantle. After being down 6 goals to 1 at quarter time, inspirational play by captain Chris Judd and Irishman Setanta O'Halpin's 4 goals lead the Blues to 15 point victory.
The match of the round did not disappoint St Kilda and Geelong played out surly the best game of the year. The Saints jumped out of the blocks Kicking the first 5 goals, including one from Nick Riewoldt after he took a strong mark running back with the flight of the ball. Geelong however showed their experience and ran themselves into the match, pegging back the margin to make it just 10 points at three quarter time.
St Kilda got some early goals and it looked over but the Cats kept coming to lock the scores with about 3 minutes to go. After a few frantic minutes of play with no score recoded, Saint Michael Gardiner took a towering pack mark in the goal square with 90 seconds on the clock and kicked the winning goal taking out the win for the Saints.
Next weeks match of the round is Western Bulldogs V Collingwood 4th and 5th on the ladder.
Stay tuned as the race for the finals begins to take shape
*This week’s “Weird or Wonderful” photo - "Footy is still a tough game"
