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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Sport
Jonathan Howcroft

Sportwatch: Manly win Golden Point classic, Giants pip Power, Swifts march on – as it happened

Manly Sea Eagles
Manly celebrate their Golden Point victory over Melbourne at AAMI Park. Photograph: Kelly Defina/Getty Images

Summary

Phew! What a night. Just one point deciding the outcome in the two big footy matches of the night. Manly’s thrilling victory over Melbourne will live long in the memory, especially that series of missed field goals.

Now it’s time for me to pack up for the night. Thank you for your company, we’ll be back to do this all again tomorrow.

Cycling: The Tour de France is almost over but you can follow all the action on a decisive Stage 20 right here:

AFL: Port Adelaide 7.13 (55) v GWS 8.8 (56)

The Giants hold on by their fingernails in Heath Shaw’s 300th. It was low-scoring and lacking in goalmouth incident but full of intensity nonetheless. Port Adelaide scrapped hard to remain in the contest and ground their way towards GWS late in the final term. The Power never held the lead during the match but came within a whisker of snatching a victory at the death.

Three goals apiece to Cameron and Finlayson took care of the scoring for the visitors while Travis Boak will wonder how he could find the ball 40 times and still end up on the losing side.

The win lifts the Giants to fifth and backs up their win over Collingwood last time out. Defeat for Port Adelaide, on top of Adelaide’s loss to Carlton, leaves that race for the last available finals spot wide open. The Crows, the only side on nine wins, are in possession, but there are now five teams on eight victories, including Fremantle and the Western Bulldogs, who face-off in Melbourne tomorrow.

AFL: 4 mins remaining Q4: Port Adelaide 7.13 (55) v GWS 8.8 (56) - Port Adelaide refuse to go down without a fight. Just a point in it at Adelaide Oval with the Siren just four minutes away.

AFL: St Kilda 15.13 (103) v Melbourne 13.7 (85)

It was nip and tuck all night but when the game was there to be won St Kilda reached out and grabbed their opportunity with both hands. Three goals in a row late in the final quarter turned an even contest into a thrilling victory for the Saints and another feather in the cap of caretaker coach Brett Ratten.

Josh Bruce kicked 4.0, Seb Ross 2.0 with 31 disposals and seven tackles.

The win means the Saints retain an outside chance of making the finals. Melbourne’s horror season cannot end soon enough. They’re now a game behind Carlton.

Super Netball: Fever 49-53 Swifts

The ladder leaders were challenged early but they responded in style, dominating the ball, dictating terms, and running out comfortable winners. The Swifts kick clear once again at the top of the ladder after the Lightning edged within one point earlier in the day.

Updated

AFL: 15 mins remaining Q4: Port Adelaide 6.10 (46) v GWS 7.7 (49) - The Power have been behind all night but they haven’t been as close to the Giants as they are now since the opening bounce. Robbie Gray has three and Adelaide Oval is rocking.

AFL: 8 mins remaining Q4: St Kilda 13.11 (89) v Melbourne 13.6 (84) - It’s a night of tight finishes, including at Marvel Stadium where the Saints and Demons are fighting tooth and nail for the four points. Ben Long has just snapped St Kilda back in front - the fifth lead change of the final term.

Rugby: Australia 16-10 Argentina

The Wallabies are on the board in the Rugby Championship, holding off a spirited Pumas fightback to prevail at Suncorp Stadium.

NRL: Melbourne 10-11 Manly

What an astonishing game of rugby league, won in the final minute of golden point with a Daly Cherry-Evans drop goal. Melbourne’s nine-game winning streak comes to an end.

Updated

NRL: 89 mins: Melbourne 10-10 Manly - First error of added time sees Melbourne concede possession with a forward pass in defensive territory. Manly have time and field position to win it at the death.

AFL: 3QT: Port Adelaide 5.9 (39) v GWS 7.7 (49) - It remains the Giants’ to lose in a low-scoring contest at Adelaide Oval. Cameron and Finlayson both have bags of three for the visitors.

Super Netball: 3QT: Fever 38-40 Swifts - Honours even in that third quarter with the Swifts retaining their slender advantage.

NRL: 85 mins: Melbourne 10-10 Manly - Half-time in added time. This is the most absurd NRL match in many a long day. The final play of that period lasted an age with both sides playing on after the siren. Incredible stuff.

Updated

NRL: 84mins: Melbourne 10-10 Manly - Now Walker hits the post for Manly! This is wild!

Updated

NRL: 83 mins: Melbourne 10-10 Manly - Munster’s field goal hits the post, on tackle two! So much drama! Melbourne went for the golden point following Manly being reduced to 12 after Jake Trbojevic was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle.

AFL: 3QT: St Kilda 10.8 (70) v Melbourne 10.6 (66) - After a stodgy opening half this one burst into life in the third quarter. Tim Membrey kicked three to spark his Saints from a half-time deficit to a three-quarter time lead.

NRL: 80 mins: Melbourne 10-10 Manly - Golden Point required to separate these fierce rivals at AAMI Park. Manly were the better side in the opening term, Melbourne dominated after the break, and after a rash of failed field goals we’ll go to added time.

Updated

NRL: 80 mins: Melbourne 10-10 Manly - Smith misses as well! What a finish at AAMI Park.

NRL: 77 mins: Melbourne 10-10 Manly - And now Croft misses for Melbourne!

NRL: 76 mins: Melbourne 10-10 Manly - Tension ramping up at AAMI Park with both teams considering drop goals to sneak into the lead. Manly have the first dart but DCE drags his effort wide after a concerted spell of pressure.

Super Netball: HT: Fever 26-28 Swifts - Panic, what panic? The Swifts erased their quarter-time deficit in the blink of an eye and went into the main break two goals to the good. Helen Housby has been instrumental for the ladder leaders.

NRL: 64 mins: Melbourne 10-10 Manly - I really should have waited a few seconds because just as I typed the last entry Brandon Smith burrowed his way over from dummy half next to the posts. Game on at AAMI Park!

Updated

NRL: 63 mins: Melbourne 4-10 Manly - The Sea Eagles retain a handy lead but they have barely seen Storm territory this half. It’s been all Melbourne since the break but despite the weight of possession they can’t force another score.

Rugby: 47 mins: Australia 13-3 Argentina - Lealiifano has kicked the Wallabies further ahead.

Updated

NRL: 50 mins: Melbourne 4-10 Manly - This one is ticking along very nicely indeed. Melbourne have come out to play this second half and did all but score on two occasions before a piece of individual brilliance from Will Chambers finally got them on the scoreboard.

Updated

AFL: HT: Port Adelaide 3.6 (24) v GWS 4.6 (30) - The Power sparked themselves into life midway through the second quarter, enlivening a match that was ebbing slowly the Giants’ way. Big second half to come.

Updated

Super Netball: QT: Fever 16-13 Swifts - There could be an upset brewing in the night’s big Super Netball contest. The ladder leading Swifts lost the opening quarter away to West Coast Fever. The visitors dominated possession but shot at only 81%. Failure to win tonight would set up a nervy run home with Lightning closing the gap at the top earlier in the day with victory in the Queensland derby.

Swimming: A fuller picture is emerging of Shayna Jack’s failed doping test.

AFL: HT: St Kilda 5.7 (37) v Melbourne 6.4 (40) - Midway through the quarter the Demons looked like they were stretching away but a late rally from the Saints has kept matters even at half-time. Channel Seven will be wondering why this is their Saturday night showpiece.

Rugby: 33 mins: Australia 10-3 Argentina - The Wallabies are back in front in Brisbane, Hodge crossing for the first try in the right corner.

Updated

NRL: HT: Melbourne 0-10 Manly - It’s turning into another one of those nights for Des Hasler over Craig Bellamy. Manly have kept Melbourne scoreless at half-time at AAMI Park for the first time since round two 2018 and they’ve snagged ten points of their own courtesy of a couple of penalties and a try on the stroke of the interval courtesy of a superb chase to a wicked DCE bomb.

Rugby: 24 mins: Australia 3-3 Argentina - It’s all square at Suncorp Stadium with a Puma penalty cancelling out the Wallabies’ three-pointer from earlier.

AFL: QT: Port Adelaide 0.3 (3) v GWS 2.5 (17) - That instant Giants goal was just about the highlight of the opening quarter with a distinct absence of attacking panache keeping this one on the simmer. The standout performer has been Jeremy Cameron, who has a brace, to go with seven disposals.

Cricket: England have named a squad of 14 for the first Ashes Test. More on this to come but the headline news is a first Test call-up for paceman Jofra Archer.

Updated

AFL: QT: St Kilda 3.2 (20) v Melbourne 5.3 (33) - Not much separating these battlers in open play but a couple of Demons goals late in the quarter see them head to the first break with their noses in front.

Rugby: 10 mins: Australia 3-0 Argentina - The Wallabies have opened the scoring with a penalty against the Pumas. You can follow all the action in that one here:

NRL: 15 mins: Storm 0-2 Sea Eagles - Manly think they have the first try of the night - and it would be well deserved - but as soft an obstruction as you could imagine rubs out the four points.

NRL: 10 mins: Storm 0-2 Sea Eagles - Manly open the scoring at AAMI Park with a penalty following an uncharacteristically sloppy start from Melbourne.

Updated

AFL: Q1: 1 min: Port Adelaide 0.0 (0) v GWS 1.0 (6) ... and it takes Jeremy Cameron just 40 seconds to hit the scoreboard. The Giants off to a flying start.

Updated

AFL: Port Adelaide and GWS are primed for their clash at Adelaide Oval. The three big domestic footy contests are now all up and running.

NRL: Melbourne and Manly are out on the AAMI Park turf ready to do battle in the big Saturday night rugby league blockbuster.

Updated

Netball: The number of Nevilles coaching international outfits for England is back down to one with Tracey Neville being succeeded by Jess Thirlby as boss of the Netball side.

Women’s Ashes: In case you missed it from overnight Australia’s women converted the retention of the Ashes into a resounding series victory by thumping England in the first of three T20 internationals. Meg Lanning was back to her record breaking best at Chelmsford.

AFL: Q1: 2 mins: St Kilda 0.0 (0) v Melbourne 2.0 (12) - Underway in our first contest of the evening with Melbourne kicking the opening couple of goals against St Kilda at Marvel Stadium.

Rugby: That sets up Australia’s Test against Argentina beautifully. You can follow all that live right here:

Rugby: New Zealand 16-16 South Africa - HUUUUUUGE drama in Wellington with the Springboks crossing in the final seconds to set up a kick for goal to level the scores - and it’s good! What is it with New Zealand and tied scores?

Updated

NRL: It’s been nip and tuck in the NRL so far this round with the Sharks, Tigers, Rabbitohs, and Eels all winning by four points or fewer. The only outlier has been the Queensland derby with the hapless Titans succumbing to a drubbing at the hands of the Broncos.

AFL: A quick whip around the grounds from the round so far reveals some intriguing results.

At the pointy end, Richmond restated their premiership credentials by hammering Collingwood on Friday night. The Tigers have now won five on the bounce and look deserved flag favourites. It’s a different story for the Pies who are now struggling to make the top four after slipping to their fourth defeat in five outings.

Brisbane continue to defy the odds, beating Hawthorn in Tasmania to move level on points with ladder leaders Geelong. The Lions have played a game more than the Cats but their sixth win in a row has them in line for the most unlikely top four finish. The defeat is a hammer blow to the Hawks’ chances of making the finals. They’re only a game outside the eight but with a tough run home it’s hard to see them making up enough ground to leapfrog both South Australian rivals - as well as any other late chargers - in the final stretch.

Speaking of those South Australians, Adelaide will be kicking themselves for not putting daylight between themselves in eighth and the chasing pack but the Crows became the latest scalp of the Teague-inspired Blues, Carlton battling to their fifth win in seven games - the two defeats both coming by less than a goal.

And in the last few minutes West Coast also moved level with Geelong on 13 wins after they breezed past North Melbourne. Josh Kennedy was in one of those moods, kicking seven straight for the Eagles.

Josh Kennedy
Josh Kennedy of the Eagles celebrates a goal during the round 19 AFL match between the West Coast Eagles and the North Melbourne. Photograph: Paul Kane/Getty Images

Cricket: England, by the way, announce their squad in about an hour from now. They will have learned precious little from their hit out against Ireland, a win that contained plenty of embarrassment but avoided ignominy.

Cricket: Australia announced its Ashes squad this week and there were a couple of surprises among the 17 men named. The most eye-catching selection was perhaps Cameron Bancroft’s. His recall means all three miscreants from the Cape Town catastrophe have now been reintegrated at the highest level.

Geoff Lemon literally wrote the book on what happened in Cape Town and he’s cast his expert eye over Bancroft’s readmission to the Test arena.

Selectors always wanted Bancroft back. In Australian cricket circles he is considered the unluckiest of the ball-tampering trio; a junior bystander dragged into the mess. He is also a personal favourite of the national coach, Justin Langer, who coached Bancroft’s entire pre-Test career at Western Australia and comforted him on returning home distraught from South Africa.

Updated

Football: Couple of pieces of Real Madrid news that are worth sharing. The first involves Zinedine Zidane’s side’s extraordinary 7-3 preseason defeat at the hands of neighbours Atletico. The clash in New York ended with both sides reduced to ten men and raises pressure on the coach following a 3-1 defeat to Bayern Munich earlier in the week.

And Real look like they will soon be without the services of Gareth Bale. Once the costliest player in the world, the 30-year old is now on the brink of a move to China. The Welsh international could eventually face Australian opposition in the Asian Champions League if his move to Jiangsu Suning goes through as expected.

AFL: You don’t see this every day. Surely Eleni Glouftsis should have responded with the goal sign?

Swimming: The Sunday Telegraph is reporting Australian swimmer Shayna Jack has failed a drug test at the world championships. This will inevitably put a different spin on some of the commentary of recent days around Sun Yang.

NRL: Sydney’s protracted stadium building farce continues to embarrass all parties with the company contracted to knock down the old Allianz Arena saying the NSW government isn’t stumping up a sufficient amount of cash for them to consider the rebuilding job. Another construction firm will now be engaged with growing concerns for the viability of the original $729m budget.

Swimming: Before we hammer into the live stuff there’s time to catch-up on some of the biggest stories from the weekend so far and we begin with some awful news from the World Aquatic Championships in Gwangju where a balcony in a nightclub near the athletes’ village has collapsed, killing two South Koreans and injuring a number of international competitors.

Preamble

Hello everybody and welcome to another busy instalment of Sportwatch. On tonight’s menu there’s live AFL, NRL, and Super Netball, as well as plenty of other sport going on around the world to report.

In the AFL St Kilda and Melbourne will try to put their moribund seasons to one side for a couple of hours from 7.25pm and fulfil their contractual obligations. Meanwhile, in the game with something at stake, Port Adelaide welcome GWS to Adelaide Oval at 7.40pm. The Power dare not lose with their finals chances already hanging by a thread.

Over in the NRL a pair of bona fide finals contenders go at it from 7.35pm with Manly travelling to Melbourne to renew of one of the competition’s narkiest rivalries.

Finally, in Super Netball, the ladder leading Swifts journey west to battle the Fever from 8pm. Despite the tough opposition the home side will see this contest as a must-win to remain in the hunt for the playoffs.

If you think this rundown is ignoring the Rugby Championship, fear not, because Australia v Argentina has its own dedicated minute-by-minute liveblog.

On top of all of that there’s no shortage of stuff going on outside Australia, including the World Aquatic Championships, the Tour de France, the German Grand Prix, the Evian Championship, build-up to the Ashes, and much more besides that will make itself known to me when it becomes newsworthy.

You can of course contribute along the way. Anything pithy can be tweeted to @JPHowcroft. Anything longer should be emailed to jonathan.howcroft.casual@theguardian.com.

Tonight is all about the Power.

Updated

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