South Adelaide @ Port Adelaide
Round 6 - Alberton Oval - 14/05/2023

Goals: Fitt, Freitag, Sproule, Wilkinson 2, Heaslip, Kirkland, Mutch
Disposals: Haines 30, Davis 26, E.Smith 24, Rose, 23, O'Neill 22
Best: O'Neill (Thanks to Betta Home Living McLaren Vale & Victor Harbor), Brooksby (Thanks to Sports Power), Freitag (Thanks to Jimmy Deane's), Davis, Mutch 
Injuries: Nill
Crowd: 1,194

The Reserves and League both struggle away from home. 

It has been a poor few weeks on the trot for the South Adelaide League side and they were looking to get back into the winning column in Round 6 against Port Adelaide.

Starting on a positive, they welcomed two debutants in Cameron Kirklandand Luke Mitton. Kirkland and Mitton both came through the Panthers Junior Program and register as players #1811 and #1812 respectively. 

The Panthers started slow as they let Port clear without hesitation, letting four major scores go through, not the start which was expected at all.

But the League team didn’t lay down as they replied registering four of their own major scores and would bring the game back into contention.

Kirkland on debut kicked the first of the day in shifty fashion, he would gather the ball with precision and snap it onto his left just outside the square, providing the much-needed reply.

Shortly after it was Liam Fitt kicking his first as his set shot from 50-metres out on a tough angle was spectacular, getting the ball to cruise through for a major score.

The Panthers started to get going as Ben Heaslip would kick his first after getting loose from his defender, running on, and adjusting while in front, slotting it through the middle. 

The South Adelaide kept up the momentum as Damon Freitag would put his mark on the quarter after being awarded a free and securing the third major of the first quarter. 

Moving onto the second term the South Adelaide dominance was present as they were hitting the ball hard and moving it well.

After an early Port goal, the Panthers would reply as Freitag would kick his second from a set shot from 40-metres out.

Looking forceful the Panthers would stream forward and get it into Fitt's hands at the 16-minute mark, as his set shot from 50-metres secured his second of the contest.

After a Port reply it was back with the Panthers looking to get the lead back once more, Freitag would kick his third while on the run as he would get the Panthers back in front by 6-points headed into the main break.

It wasn’t going to come easy for the Panthers, but the clearance and stoppage work needed to continue to keep pace with Port Adelaide. 

The third term was back and forth as Port would start early securing two major scores. Luckily, Zach Sproule came to play as he delivered his first with a set shot from 40-metres out.

The league team were looking smooth and were damaging with their disposals, doing well to move forward and this would result in getting it toKobe Mutch.

He would get on the end of the short kick leaving him 40-metres away from goal, the set shot was grand giving the panthers a 7-point lead.

Port would reply but Eamon Wilkinson had something to say about it shortly after as his set shot from 35-metres out was smooth.

It seemed like the Panthers were looking to finish the job in this close contest but, Port still had plenty left in the tank.

In the final quarter the entire game was shifted on its head as Port would kick five goals without a South Adelaide reply.

A brutal turn of events in what looked like the league teams’ game to lose.

Sproule would kick his second late in the term as his set shot was good just shy of 50-metres.

The damage was already done as Port was moving too well for the Panthers. 

In the contest at the final break, Port Adelaide lifted a gear which the Panthers were unable to match resulting in 28-point loss. 

It was a poor loss, but on debut Mitton was strong on debut with a team high 7 tackles.

The Kia State Game bye has come at the right time for the Panthers as they can look to reset and right the ship heading into the meat of the season, with plenty of football still left to play. 

They take on the undefeated Sturt in a fortnights time on May 27 at Flinders University Stadium in the SANFL Super Match Presented by The Advertiser. 

South Adelaide Reserves vs Sturt Reserves
Round 6 - Wigan Oval - 13/05/2023

Goal: Shillabeer 2, Cockshell, Dunshea, Kantilla, Megins
Disposals: Ramsay 26, Lovering 24, Schuback 23, Birt 22, Duncan 22
Best: Lovering (Thanks to Becks Bakehouse), Scott, Megins, Collins, Shillabeer

After the close finish in Round 5 against Glenelg the Reserves were looking to continue their winning momentum against Sturt at Wigan Oval.

The Reserves started off slow in the first quarter as they were struggling to get clean clearances, unable to stop Sturt from operating smoothly as they let three major scores go through unanswered.

Around the ground it was messier than usual to start, unable to get the ball forward and provide opportunities.

Before the quarter would close, the Panthers managed two minor scores helping to build some confidence going into the second.

The wheels started to turn in the second for the Panthers as they got their feet and got back to what was working, hitting the contests hard and using the ball effectively.

The first goal for the Reserves in this contest would come from Ben Shillabeer, after a long ball hit the contest the ball would fumble and hit the ground, Shillabeer would gather with ease and avoid his defenders and snap for goal, doing well and providing the much-needed reply.

It was becoming evident that the Sturt offence was becoming hard to stop as they would kick their own shortly after.

In back-and-forth fashion the Panthers replied with a goal from Kim Kantilla after he got the pass off from a mark in the square.  

It was a trend of the quarter as Sturt would reply with a few of their own until the Reserves would do the same.

The clearance work was getting smoother as it would lead to Nic Dunshea securing his first late in the term.

Directly in front from 45-metres out the kick needed to be bang on, and it was as it sailed through.

At the close of the half the Panther Reserves were down by 27 points, a considerable margin which needed to be tackled urgently in the next half if a win was to become a possibility.

Sturt came out strong and showed they weren’t going to back down securing two major scores.

It would be in the latter portion of the term when South would hit the scoreboard as they were struggling to get forward cleanly.

A sigh of relief came when Shillabeer provided his second. In similar circumstances to his first he got the outlet pass from a contest and got free of his opposition, getting it onto his right foot and snapping the goal.

The Reserves seemed to be gaining some traction as they would kick another shortly after. It was Koby Cockshell’s first doing the job as he would stiff arm his defender and snap it onto his powerful right foot, securing the major score.

It seemed the tide was shifting as the reserves were getting forward with ease, this was majorly disrupted by a Sturt reply which brought the run to a halt.

Looking at the final term the finish of this game was evident as Sturt continued to dominate and move freely.

Oliver Megins did well to kick his first in the final quarter as his set shot from 45-metres out was pure, but it simply wasn’t enough as Sturt continued to stream forward.

The Reserves went too late, and it made it difficult to comeback despite great efforts from Sam Ramsay with 26 disposals on the day and Cooper Rogerspressure acts which landed him with 12 tackles.

Sturt proved to be too much for the South Adelaide reserves. The next chance will come at Flinders University Stadium on Saturday the 27th of May against Sturt once again in a 11:30am timeslot.