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AFL
| Adelaide booked themselves a spot in this year's finals with a 19-point win on the road against Collingwood at Telstra Dome on Friday night. The Crows jumped the Magpies early, with a 5 goals to 2 opening quarter, and the Magpies were never able to bridge the gap. In a welcome return to form, Andrew McLeod and Mark Riccuito were among the Crows' best. Adelaide 5.3 6.5 10.8 14.10 (94) Collingwood 2.0 6.3 9.6 11.9 (75) Goals : Adelaide - B Burton 3 M Ricciuto 3 N Gill 2 S Thompson J Porplyzia R Shirley S Welsh B Reilly S Goodwin. Collingwood - A Rocca 3 S Pendlebury 2 S O'Bree 2 D Thomas N Buckley B Reid S Burns. Best : Adelaide - A McLeod S Thompson T Edwards M Ricciuto R Shirley N Bock B Burton. Collingwood - S Pendlebury H Shaw J Clement D Swan T Lockyer T Goldsack A Rocca. Umpires - B Rosebury S Ryan M Vozzo. Crowd - 47,915 at Telstra Dome. With both sides out of the running for the finals, there was little importance riding on this match, but it turned out to be a thriller. The Tigers, battling to avoid the wooden spoon, got on top in the second quarter and held on to lead by 3 points at the last change. But St Kilda, led by Fraser Gehrig up forward and Andrew Thompson in defence playing their last games, rallied to hit the front and record a 10-point win to give them some positive vibes for the off-season. St Kilda 4.8 7.12 11.15 14.18 (102) Richmond 2.2 8.5 12.12 13.14 (92) Goals : St Kilda - F Gehrig 5 J Koschitzke 4 N Riewoldt 3 L Montagna S Milne. Richmond - K Pettifer 4 B Deledio 2 M Richardson 2 C Newman N Brown S Edwards S Tuck R Tambling. Best : St Kilda - J Koschitzke L Montagna N Riewoldt F Gehrig N Dal Santo S Birss. Richmond - K Pettifer J Bowden C Newman S Tuck B Deledio J King. Umpires - H Kennedy B Allen D Goldspink. Crowd - 42,472 at the MCG Essendon said farewell to long-serving coach Kevin Sheedy and former captain James Hird as they travelled to Subiaco to take on West Coast. The Eagles looked to have the game under control when they led by 44 points at the last change; but a determined charge by the Bombers in the last term took them within a sniff of the upset of the season. Scott Lucas was in inspirational form, kicking 7 goals in the last term. After the game, West Coast put on an emotional presentation to the Bomber legends. West Coast 5.1 12.2 19.4 21.6 (132) Essendon 2.3 5.6 11.8 19.10 (124) Goals : West Coast - R Jones 3 M Morton 3 M LeCras 2 M Seaby 2 D Chick 2 B Cousins 2 B Staker 2 D Wirrpanda 2 D Cox Q Lynch T Stenglein. Essendon - S Lucas 8 J Winderlich 3 J Neagle M McVeigh M Lloyd J Hird C Heffernan K Bradley B Stanton A Monfries. Best : West Coast - R Jones A Hunter T Stenglein B Cousins D Cox. Essendon - S Lucas J Hird D Peverill A McPhee A Lovett. Umpires - M Head S Meredith S Jeffery. Crowd - 42,761 at Subiaco Oval, Perth Minor premiers Geelong returned to the winning list when they overcame Geelong by 42 points at the Gabba. Leading by 19 points at the first change, the Cats had got off to a solid start and were never threatened; but the match gave them a good hit-out before the finals action. No finals appearance for the Lions, who farewelled Chris Johnson, the last Fitzroy player to retire from the AFL. But the Lions can be pleased with the second half of 2007, and with Jonathan Brown leading the way up forward hopes are high that the Lions can return to finals action in 2008. Geelong 5.2 9.4 15.10 22.13 (145) Brisbane 2.1 6.6 9.10 15.13 (103) Goals : Geelong - C Mooney 4 B Ottens 4 S Johnson 3 M Stokes 3 P Chapman 2 S Byrnes 2 C Ling 2 N Ablett J Kelly. Brisbane - J Brown 7 R Copeland 3 J Brennan 3 J Adcock C Johnson. Best : Geelong - J Selwood S Johnson N Ablett M Stokes C Enright. Brisbane - N Lappin T Selwood J Brown J Adcock. Umpires - S Grun S Wenn D Woodcock. Crowd - 34,107 at the Gabba. Port Adelaide needed a win to ensure a home final in the opening finals round, but were made to fight all the way by a determined Fremantle side. After the Power made a strong start, the Dockers hit back to take the lead late in the third term and the Power's lead was just 4 points at the last change. But the home side's superior form and fitness won through in the last, with Port Adelaide earning themselves the home ground advantage for their finals clash against West Coast. Port Adelaide 4.7 8.7 11.9 17.15 (117) Fremantle 1.2 4.7 10.11 12.13 (85) Goals : Port Adelaide - S Burgoyne 4 J Westhoff 4 D Motlop 3 B Ebert 2 D Rodan 2 B Lade D Cassisi. Fremantle - M Pavlich 4 A Foster 2 S McManus 2 R Crowley D Mundy L McPharlin J Farmer. Best : Port Adelaide - K Cornes S Burgoyne D Cassisi P Burgoyne C Cornes M Pettigrew. Fremantle - L McPharlin S Thornton A Foster D Gilmore M Johnson B O'Brien. Umpires - C Donlon S McLaren R Chamberlain. Crowd - 39,270 at AAMI Stadium. Sydney returned to form before the finals with a comprehensive 72-point demolition of Hawthorn at the MCG. The Swans turned on their best form of the season with a 9 goals to 2 second quarter, and the match was already over as a contest well before half time. 12 Swans players made their way onto the goal kicking list in a one-sided contest that sees the Swans flying high going into the finals while the Hawks have just one week to regroup before their sudden-death clash with Adelaide. Sydney 5.6 14.8 18.8 22.9 (141) Hawthorn 1.2 3.3 9.5 10.9 (69) Goals : Sydney - N Davis 4 M O'Loughlin 4 R O'Keefe 3 J Crouch 2 N Malceski 2 P Bevan B Mathews A Goodes T Richards L Ablett E Barlow J McVeigh. Hawthorn - B Dixon 2 S Taylor 2 L Franklin T Boyle R Ladson L Hodge C Brown J Roughead. Best : Sydney - A Goodes R O'Keefe B Kirk C Bolton N Davis L Barry P Everitt M O'Loughlin. Hawthorn - S Crawford R Vandenberg J Lewis S Mitchell. Umpires - S McBurney M Stevic S McInerney Crowd - 27,498 at the SCG. The Kangaroos had a good buildup to the finals with a comfortable 64-point win over the Western Bulldogs at Telstra Dome. The Bulldogs made the early front-running, leading by 13 points at the first change; but similarly to their match against Hawthorn last week were unable to go on with it, being held scoreless in the second quarter. Sansbury with 5 was the leading goalkicker for the Kangaroos, but it was their ability to share the goals around that sent the alarm bells ringing among other finals contenders, with 11 Kangaroos registering on the goalkicking list. Brad Johnson battled hard for the Bulldogs with 5 goals, but it was a disappointing end to a disappointing season, with their dream of back-to-back finals series left unfulfilled. Kangaroos 4.4 10.9 16.13 23.19 (157) Western Bulldogs 6.5 6.5 11.5 14.9 (93) Goals : Kangaroos - E Sansbury 5 B Harvey 3 H McIntosh 3 S Grant 3 D Wells 2 D Petrie 2 C Jones S Watt A Edwards D Hale L Brown. Bulldogs - B Johnson 5 M Robbins 3 A Cooney 2 C Grant L Gilbee A McDougall M Boyd. Best : Kangaroos - H McIntosh D Wells J Sinclair B Rawlings A Simpson D Pratt B Harvey S Grant. Bulldogs - A Cooney B Johnson J Harbrow M Boyd B Harris. Umpires - L Farmer D Margetts K Nicholls. Crowd - 29,261 at Telstra Dome. The last home & away game for the season was probably the worst; with both sides displaying appalling skill errors and seemingly more interested in losing to pick up priority draft picks than taking the chance for a win. Carlton in particular were woeful, and achieved their aim of getting a priority pick; but they must be kidding themselves if they think an extra 17-year-old is going to single-handedly turn around a struggling club with a losing culture. By getting the last win, the Demons at least have something to boost their morale after a disastrous season. Melbourne 7.3 12.6 16.11 21.13 (139) Carlton 1.7 4.13 10.15 15.18 (108) Goals : Melbourne - R Robertson 6 M Bate 2 M Newton 2 C Bruce 2 J Bode 2 N Jones B Miller T Johnstone N Brown B Pickett J White R Ferguson. Carlton - E Betts 5 B Gibbs 2 R Houlihan 2 A Walker J Kennedy K Simpson L Whitnall S Hampson J Waite. Best : Melbourne - T Johnstone R Robertson B McLean M Bate N Brown N Jones. Carlton - H Scotland E Betts B Gibbs R Houlihan K Simpson A Bentick. Umpires - M Nicholls C Kamolins M Ellis. Crowd - 26,156 at the MCG. |
| AFL Scoreboard - Round 22 |