Sturt gives Bulldogs a scare at Elizabeth Crows teammates - Sturt's Aiden Riley and Central District's Ian Callinan - clash in the match at Elizabeth. CENTRAL District had to endure an amazing roller-coaster ride before claiming its second win of the season with a 27-point victory over Sturt at Elizabeth. The Bulldogs were never headed but twice they coughed up healthy leads before overpowering the Double Blues in the final quarter. The Double Blues will rue a poor first quarter when they failed to give a yelp against a rampant Bulldogs outfit and trailed by a 40 points at quarter-time. Despite grabbing a second successive win, Bulldogs coach Roy Laird was highly critical of the performance and he again emphasised mental weakness in the side is an issue which needs to be addressed. "Baring in mind where we were at quarter-time, it was our poorest effort for the year," Laird said. I'm disappointed with that effort. As with every other game we have played this year we are not mentally strong enough to keep constantly applying physical pressure. Players are not prepared to stand up and take responsibility when it is their turn to hit a kick. The Bulldogs were brilliant in the opening quarter with the ball movement highly efficient and players working hard to become an option. With the defence controlling the game with its ability to shut down opponents and then spark run, the Bulldogs ran wild and appeared set to celebrate 25 years of sponsorship with Holden in style. Josh Glenn was outstanding for the home side, James Boyd amassed possessions with little oppostion and the likes of Josh Waldhuter and Corey Reichert were on top in defence. However, it must be noted that the Double Blues were insipid and seemingly lacked desire for the contest. That all changed in the second quarter. Eight minutes into the second term, ruckman Angus Graham marked deep in attack and nailed Sturt's first goal, sparking a flurry of goals from the visitors. Not only did the Bulldogs concede the goal, they lost key defender Tom Collier for the rest of the game with a knee injury. The Double Blues smashed the Bulldogs at the stoppages and bombarded the forward line with an avalanche of opportunities. And Matthew Duldig fed off the work of the midfield, led by Luke Crane, to bang home four goals for the quarter as the Double Blues cut the deficit to just four points at half-time. Momentum swung back to the Bulldogs in the third quarter and they charged to a 33-point advantage, only to again have the lead cut. Both sides were guilty of a lack of discipline in picking up opponents and when defenders secured possession, there were always team-mates roaming free. "At quarter-time we tried to make it more one-on-one but it is a big ground and you can find space," Double Blues coach Seamus Maloney said. The last 15-20 minutes of the first quarter was terrible. BEST - Central: Glenn, Boyd, Waldhuter, O'Hara, Callinan, Reichert. Sturt: Crane, Martin, Jaensch, Evans, Graham, Riley. SCORERS - Central: Callinan 5.2, Jenner 3, Hardy, Williams 2, Boyd, S. Milne, Meulendyks, Dunne, O'Hara 1.1, Gauilhaus, Waldhuter, Colquhoun 1, Goodrem, Glenn 0.1, rushed 0.3. Sturt: Duldig 4.2, Krause 3, Crane, Graham 2.1, Evans, Rischbieth 1.2, Martin 1.1, Riley 1, Vitkunas 0.2, Greenslade, Kurtze, Kane 0.1, rushed 0.1. INJURIES - Central: Collier (knee). UMPIRES - C. Bowen, M. Oates, R. Hundertmark. CROWD - 2250 at Elizabeth.