It was a historic week for the AFL, the NBA playoffs commenced and Chelsea is into the FA Women’s Cup thanks to their Australian superstar, in this Monday’s sports round-up.
The highly anticipated Gather Round commenced this weekend
Round 5 of the AFL commenced this week with all 18 teams travelling to Adelaide for the inaugural Gather Round.
The round kicked off with the Adelaide Crows coming up against the undefeated Carlton Football Club.
Despite coming into the game as underdogs, Adelaide came out of the gates firing as they booted eight goals to Carlton’s two, going into the first break with a 38-point lead.
The game was essentially over by then despite repeated attempts from Carlton to claw themselves back into the game, Adelaide would come away with a 56-point win.
On Friday, Fremantle battled it out with the Gold Coast Suns in the first-ever AFL game at the historic Norwood Oval. Despite both teams having only played four games into the season, this match appeared to be season-defining with both sides having struggled so far.
The game would produce one of the best of the Gather Round with Fremantle coming back from three goals down and edging to a 10-point victory, putting further pressure on Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew.
On Saturday, the other South Australian team got their opportunity to play on their home deck as Port Adelaide took on the Western Bulldogs under miserable conditions.
It was a slugfest for the majority of the game, but Port Adelaide we able to pull away in the fourth quarter thanks to the efforts of Jason Horne-Francis.
A long-awaited matchup took place on Sunday Afternoon with Collingwood battling it out against first-place St Kilda.
It was a back-and-forth contest for most of the game with Collingwood breaking away in the fourth. They looked to have wrapped up the match as well, however, three unanswered goals late in the match brought the margin down to just a goal.
Unfortunately, it would not be enough with the game ending in Collingwood’s favour and capping off a successful Gather Round.
The NBA playoffs have begun
In the NBA, the playoffs commenced with the Sacramento Kings taking on rivals the Golden State Warriors in the first playoff series in 17 years, which was the longest playoff drought in NBA history.
The Kings took it to the reigning champions as they stole Game 1 with a 3-point victory at home. Former Kentucky teammates De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk starred with the duo combing for 70 points.
In other games the New York Knicks overcame finals favourites, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and both the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers cruised to Game 1 victories.
Chelsea are into another final
In the FA Women’s Cup, Chelsea earned a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa to book a spot in their sixth FA Cup final in nine years.
The Blues were spearheaded by Australian superstar Sam Kerr who was the only goal scorer. Kerr keeps her fine form going, heading into the World Cup in July.
Photo: The Big Football by Rmcdonell is available HERE. The photo has been modified.
