South Adelaide @ Sturt
Round 16 - Wigan Oval - 23/07/2022

Goals: Wilkinson 3, Brooksby, Fitt, Heaslip, Freitag, Haines
Best: Garthwaite, Brooksby, Haines, Ramsay, Sampson
Crowd: 2,106

South Adelaide’s heartbeat continues after a thrilling 6-point win over the Double Blues at Wigan Oval on a high-stakes Saturday. 

The stakes were simple for the Panthers: if they wanted to keep their finals dream alive, they had to defeat Sturt. And the Panthers, after trailing at every change, stormed home to snatch this stunning season-saving win, 8.7 (55) to 7.7 (49).

Ryan Garthwaite rose to the occasion with his best game thus far for the Panthers.

Being steadfast down back, Garthy gathered 20 disposals and 11 marks.

Among the many other standouts were Mitch O’Neill, 25 disposals and 4 tackles; Joe Haines, 24 disposals and 6 marks; and Hayden Sampson, 25 disposals and 7 clearances.

Another huge highlight of the match was Eamon Wilkinson’s 3-goal haul; the first of which doubled as the opening goal of the game.

However, with plenty of pressure on both sides to win – and with the small expanse of the park – opportunities to score were few.

And lacking a little composure and polish in the opening term hurt the Panthers as the home side registered back-to-back goals to end the first quarter. With this, South found themselves trailing 1.1 (7) to 2.0 (12) at the first change.

The opening minutes of the second term would look more promising from a Panthers’ perspective. Ben Heaslip, after taking a stunning grab, followed up his efforts with the lead-taking goal. But these promising feelings were soon lost as Sturt scored 3 unanswered goals to end the first half.

And this Double Blue blitz meant the Panthers headed into the halftime break facing a 2.4 (16) to 5.2 (32) deficit. Meaning they had a half of football left to save their season.

With everything to play for in the second term: the Panthers showed glimpses of their refusal to accept defeat. 

Damon Freitag certainly showed this when he took flight and grabbed the footy on the wing. As did Garthwaite when he desperately held on to an interception mark despite falling backwards.

However, while the Panthers were certainly marking the footy – they still weren’t scoring with it.

This was until Oscar Clavarino intercepted the footy and flicked it over to a running Haines who – from within the centre square – let loose a thumping kick that recorded the opening goal of the second half. 

From here, the Panthers kept the pressure on their opponents and – after some grounding down – managed to find another goal, courtesy of a strong mark and finish by Keegan Brooksby. This closed the gap to 4 points at the final change, 4.6 (36) to 5.4 (34).

However, the Panthers would have to pursue this crucial win without key forward Sam Overall, who suffered a head knock during an earlier contest.

Wilkinson gave South the dream start to the fourth quarter when he managed to sneak his thumping kick past the post.

This gave the Panthers the lead for the first time since the opening minutes of the second quarter.

And with this early momentum, the Panthers looked to extend their newly formed lead.

After a few fumbles and tackles from both sides, Freitag was able to collect and quickly get his kick away - despite the numbers around him – to register a much-needed goal.

But the home side would find a replier minutes later to jeopardise South’s lead.

After many tense minutes, and plenty of runs by Sam Ramsay and Elliot Dunkin, the Panthers were able to soak up Sturt’s attempts to retake the lead.

Likewise, debutant Ben Shillabeer – South’s nineteenth such player of the year – crashed several packs late to deny the Double Blues an easy mark – and potential to rebound. 

And these efforts proved crucial as Brooksby’s brilliance saw him bring the ball to ground where Liam Fitt was lurking to pounce on and snap a valuable goal.

Then, after many more tense minutes with few scoring chances, Wilkinson was able to take a strong grab deep within the Panthers’ forward arc.

And with plenty of composure and calmness, was able to slot an extremely important goal.

However, the win was far from secure. With nothing to lose, the Double Blues rolled the dice and ended up scoring a goal to cut the Panthers’ lead to 7 points.

Then, with only minutes left to play, they recorded a behind to cut the lead to 6 points.

But with their season on the line – the Panthers were not willing to see another win slip through their fingers late.

The side knuckled down, caused repeated stoppages, and soaked up the remaining seconds to claim the thrilling season-saving win, 8.7 (55) to 7.7 (49).

Continuing to have their fate within their hands, South Adelaide will head into the bye weekend looking to refresh and rest before they make a late dash for a finals spot – which continues when they face West Adelaide at Hisense Stadium on Saturday, 6 August, from 2:10pm.