The blockbuster derby was a tale of two halves; the Tigers raced out of the blocks to win the first two terms but the Dragons rallied to take charge after the main break.

South were kept scoreless for almost half the opening term by a tall Tigers line-up that found an answer to every Dragons move. Sharp shooting had the Tigers out to a 12-point lead by the time Kavossy Franklin converted from the charity stripe for South’s first score of the night.

Rosell Ellis and Joe Ingles worked hard late in the first term for the Dragons, but were kept to a combined 12 points by Melbourne’s tight defence.

The Dragons went into the second term 15 points down but it wasn’t for lack of trying; South created chances to score but had a tough time finding the net from all angles.

The ever-outsized Dragons worked hard in the second term to halt what threatened to become a demolition derby. But despite South’s extra hustle, the Tigers continued to dominate the boards; by halftime the rebound count was 31-9 in the Tigers’ favour.

Matt Shanahan was solid on return from injury but could do little to dim the lights on the Chris Anstey show. With support from Rashad Tucker and Stephen Hoare under the rim, Anstey was a standout for the Tigers with 22 points, 14 boards for the night.

Melbourne netted all but the impossible to halftime, pulling off every trick in the book to build a 23-point advantage by the main break.

A revived Dragons team came out firing in the third term, cutting the margin back to 13 points courtesy of a 16-point haul from Kavossy Franklin. For the first time all night the Dragons bettered their rivals on the boards, with Frank Drmic and Rosell Ellis sharing the workload under the rim. The extra pressure made all the difference for South, who outscored the Tigers 27-17 and threatened a late charge.

South maintained their third-term work rate in the final stanza, again outscoring their rivals and winning the majority of the boards. With just over three minutes left on the clock Anstey was fouled out of the game, but time was on the Tigers’ side and the home team edged out a 106-94 point win.

Playing coach Shane Heal, who missed Wednesday night’s clash with a calf strain, rued the Dragons’ slow start and run of missed opportunities.

“We just didn’t come out ready to play,’’ Heal said.

“Its’ very disappointing when that’s the case, when it’s a rivalry game and obviously it meant so much to be the number one team in Melbourne.’’

Melbourne Tigers 106 (Anstey 22, Hoare 21, Thomas 15)
South Dragons 94 (Franklin 26, Ellis 25, Ingles 23)
@ The Cage, 10/01/2007