Daily Grind Women's Match Report: Elimination Final vs West

Daily Grind Women's Match Report

South Adelaide vs West Adelaide
Elimination Final - Coopers Stadium - 22/05/2021

Goals: Hickey 2, Kirk
Best: Whiteley, S.Moon, Campbell, Wedding, Charlton, Hickey

A West Adelaide goal with a minute left sealed the Panthers four-point Semi-Final loss at Coopers Stadium on Saturday night.

Facing off against the Bloods for the second time in as many weeks, the Panthers brought the fight but ultimately fell just sixty seconds short of winning, 3.7 (25) to 4.5 (29).

Showing the defensive nature of the match, Lisa Whiteley finished with 16 disposals and 7 tackles while Jaslynne Smith collected 13 touches and 9 tackles. Up forward, Jordann Hickey made her mark by kicking two majors.

Just one week earlier, the Panthers final quarter surge saw them fall just one point shy of the Bloods and they came into Saturday night's game determined not to give the Bloods another head start.

The opening nine minutes of the game would be better described as a battle of the backlines, with the two sides continually trading blows but neither managing to kick a major score.

The defence, which was held firm by Brianna Wedding and Whiteley, managed to see the Panthers into the first break facing a narrow 0.2 (2) to 0.3 (3) deficit.

A minute into the second term, a costly free kick in front of the sticks gifted the Bloods the first goal of the match, and then it went from bad to worse for the Panthers as they lost Gypsy Schirmer to an ankle injury just minutes later.

It wasn't until the seventh minute mark that the Panthers were on the board with their first major, after Jess Kirk was able to mark strongly and kick truly.

From attacking to defending, Smith was able to prevent a dangerous looking attack by the Bloods, with her efforts allowing the Panthers to rebound out of defence, travel end to end, and score a behind.

Hickey was then able to cut off the Bloods kick-in and, on the run, put boot to ball from a fair distance to give the Panthers a slight buffer.

After some desperate attacking from West Adelaide and some valiant defending from the Panthers, the second term proved to end how it started, with a free kick at the tip of the goal square handing the Bloods the game-tying goal.

Coming out at halftime tied at 19 apiece and having to warm up in the centre of the ground because the oval wasn't cleared; the Panthers threatened to break the game open but just couldn't find the elusive goala trend that was also mirrored by the Bloods.

There were some crucial defensive moments during the third term as both sides couldn't afford to make any mistakes. A diving intercept mark by Sarah Wright helped thwart one of many of the Bloods attacks inside 50 while some truly desperate defending saw the Panthers hold out till the three-quarter time siren, despite the ball being in their opponent's goal square.

A minute into the final term, a strong intercept mark by Lucy Northcott stopped their first shot at snatching the lead. However, a few minutes a later a free kick dead in front handed the Bloods the lead.

Refusing to go down without a fight, the Panthers cleared the ball from the corresponding bounce, and after a clever play along the wing by Nicole Campbell, Hickey was able to kick her second on the run to extend the lead.

After several tense minutes, the Bloods were able to collect the ball and quickly kick the game-winning goal from a stoppage and with just thirty seconds left by the time the ball was bounced, the 3.7 (25) to 4.5 (29) result was all but sealed.

Although it was a heartbreaking way to end the season, the Panthers were once again one of the strong competitors in the competition, as they have been since joining it during 2018: since then, they have made finals four times, played in three Grand Finals, and have won two Premierships. 

Show the Girls that your are #SouthProud in 2021!