The same margin

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It's not that uncommon for a team to win by a margin one week and then either win or lose by that same margin the following week. Since 1897, it has occured 251 times, with a further 7 instances of three times in a row.

What is remarkable is this sequence:

In Round 15 1986 Glenelg lost to Central by 7 points, 7.12 to 8.13. Two weeks later in the following round, they defeated North by 7 points, 19.9 to 17.14.
Round 15 the following year in poor conditions, Glenelg again lost to Central, this time by 18 points, 9.4 to 11.10. The following round in worse conditions, the Tigers defeated West Torrens by 18 points, 9.7 to 6.7.
As was explained elsewhere in this section of the forum, the SANFL would plan the fixture in the 80s based on crowd figures the previous year on who would play three times against each other and twice. You will find from this planning that a lot of the clashes were played by the same teams in the same round two or three years in a row.
This happened here; with Glenelg facing Central in Round 15 for the third year in a row. Glenelg once again lost to Central, 9.8 to 12.13, by 23 points. Then, in Round 16, Glenelg again played Torrens, but this time lost. Yes, the margin was 23 points - 16.7 to 18.18.
In 1989, Glenelg played Central in Round 16. And, another loss. This time by 85 points, 8.11 to 21.18.
The next round, saw Glenelg beat the Eagles, by, you guessed it, 85 points! 22.16 to 9.9.

For four years in a row, whatever the margin Glenelg lost to in their second meeting against the Bulldogs, they would either win or lose by that margin in the following round!

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Other tidbits:

Eagles defeated Sturt in the 2000 Preliminary by 22 points, 14.16 to 12.6. The following historic Sunday featuring the two tricolour teams for the first time on the big day, it was of course Central who won by 22 points, 8.13 to 5.9.
The next year saw Central lose to Norwood by 22 points in Round 1, 13.17 to 11.7. Round 2 saw a last quarter comeback by the Bulldogs to defeat North by 22 points, 18.8 to 14.10. That is one of the 7 instances of 3 consecutive margins.

What is more known about South is they had two consecutive draws in 1997, in Rounds 7 and 8. What is less known is that they also had two consecutive draws to start the 1903 season. 6.5 apiece against Port in Round 1 and 4.7 each against Sturt in Round 2.

West Adelaide kicked off season 1954 with three consecutive wins by 3 points:
Round 1 10.11 vs North 10.8
Round 2 13.9 vs Glenelg 12.12
Round 3 10.15 vs Torrens 10.12

In the last round of 1967, West Torrens defeated Woodville by 8 points, 7.10 to 6.8. In Round 1 1968, the Peckers lost again by 8 points against the same opposition, 8.17 to 7.15. When Torrens met Woodville later in the season, they defeated them again, but by 26 points, 12.16 to 9.8. Then they defeated Norwood by the same margin, 14.20 to 11.12.

Glenelg defeated Norwood by 5 points in Round 17 1950, 14.16 to 13.17. Two weeks later when they met in the 2nd Semi Final, it was Norwood who won by 5 points, 13.10 to 13.5. This is the only occasion where two teams played consecutive matches; they were against each other and the same margin occured.

[dedja]

All interesting stuff but you really need to get out more ...

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And let this fascinating section of the forum go cold? Never.

[robranisgod]

In 2001, North only won 4 games of the year. The first 3 wins, against Sturt, West and Glenelg were all by 23 points.

Unfortunately, the last win of the year, against Norwood in the last game, was by 16 points to spoil the sequence. With about 5 minutes to go North did lead by 23 points, but Norwood then kicked 2 goals one behind before North kicked the final goal. Sad as I was that the sequence had been broken, I was mighty relieved to know that the win had saved the roosters from the wooden spoon, thus keeping their record of having "won" the second fewest wooden spoons in tact.

[HeartBeatsTrue]

In 2001, North only won 4 games of the year. The first 3 wins, against Sturt, West and Glenelg were all by 23 points.

Unfortunately, the last win of the year, against Norwood in the last game, was by 16 points to spoil the sequence. With about 5 minutes to go North did lead by 23 points, but Norwood then kicked 2 goals one behind before North kicked the final goal. Sad as I was that the sequence had been broken, I was mighty relieved to know that the win had saved the roosters from the wooden spoon, thus keeping their record of having "won" the second fewest wooden spoons in tact.

I remember this. Very wet night and the result handed the spoon to the bays.

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I wondered that afternoon just how bad the conditions would be for that match.

And for the record, North had four wins out of 5 at 23 points. In a sequence starting from Round 3 2000 to Round 5 2002, the wins by North did not deviate much:
24, 23, 16, 23, 23, 23, 15, 14, 14.

There have been two other examples of teams winning matches being the same margin three times in a row. Tthe West instances in 1954 as above, and West Torrens winning in Rounds 11, 13 and 15 1972 (16 points each time).

As for losses:
Rounds 8, 9, 12 1964 had West lost by 47 points.
Rounds 6, 10, 12 1979 saw Port lose by 33 points.