Lumin Sports Match Report: Reserves Round 9 vs Woodville West Torrens
South Adelaide vs Woodville West Torrens
Round 9 - Maughan Thiem Kia Oval - 05/06/2022
South Adelaide | 0.3 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 3.5 | 23 |
Woodville West Torrens | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 3.10 | 28 |
Goals: Bradley, Clifton, Gill
Best: Clifton, Dumesny, S.Jones, Megins, Spacie
A dirty day for the South Adelaide Reserves as they fell to Woodville-West Torrens by 5 points at Maughan Thiem Oval on a soaked Sunday.
The Panther Reserves were on the cusp of securing an upset victory: but a costly fourth term instead handed them a heartbreaking 5-point loss, 3.5 (23) to 3.10 (28).
Making this result even harder to swallow is the fact that this is the second consecutive week that the Panther Reserves could have caused a major upset – but sadly, both results ended in a close loss.
Playing on a muddy and water-logged oval: the match was scrappy, to say the least. And it was simply a slog: 316 tackles were laid, and 77 free kicks were paid.
But following this hard-fought battle, many were left checking the record books because of Cooper Rogers’ amazing tackle count of 25. This tackling machine also had 19 disposals and 6 clearances.
While around the muddy ground, Harry Spacie (17 disposals, 15 tackles), Jacob Collins (14 disposals, 19 tackles) and Zach Dumesny (25 disposals, 5 marks) were among those embracing the tough conditions.
And tough conditions they were. They reminded many of their country football days: the mud, the rain, the puddles. With this setting, goals were hard to come by.
But, although goals were rare, it didn’t take the home side long to record the first of the match. An Eagles goal within the second minute of the game set an uneasy feeling for the blue and white faithful – but after the Eagles struck first, most of the scoring was then done by the Panthers.
However, unfortunately, the side struggled to convert their chances. They kicked 3 straight behinds during the opening term. But thankfully, at the other end, Aaron Douglass was steady which helped minimise the damage.
Facing a narrow 0.3 (3) to 1.1 (7) deficit at the first change, the Panthers soon took the lead following a clever soccer off the deck by Brian Gill.
Gill once again made an impact towards the end of the second term when he intercepted an Eagles kick – then set up Max Clifton for a margin-boosting goal.
Clifton’s goals extended the Panthers’ margin at halftime to 7 points, 2.3 (15) to 1.2 (8).
The third term became a gritty battle. Scuffles and repeated stoppages were commonplace. But in the wet, both Shannon Jones and Dayne McGary showed their steady hands to take crucial intercept marks down back.
But despite the backline managing to hold out: the Eagles routinely peppered the goals – luckily, they could only muster up 5 behinds.
This would soon change however as the home side broke the game open in the fourth term with 2 consecutive goals. Angus Bradley would peg one back for the Panthers: but with seconds left on the clock, the team’s 3.5 (23) to 3.10 (28) fate was sealed.
The Panther Reserves will now face North Adelaide at Flinders University Stadium on Monday, 13 June, from 11:30am.