Daily Grind Women's Match Report: Round 2 vs Norwood

Daily Grind Women's Match Report

South Adelaide vs Norwood
Round 2 - Flinders University Stadium - 5/03/2021

Goals: Kirk, Page, Schirmer
Best: McKinnon, Campbell, Schirmer, S.Moon, Wright

South Adelaide suffers their second straight loss after going down by 21-points against Norwood at Flinders University Stadium on Friday night.

Despite kicking off the season by going zero for two, the Panthers looked livelier during their Round Two match compared to the previous week.

But this wasn't enough to get over the top of a classy Norwood outfit who handed the Panthers a 3.5 (23) to 7.2 (44) loss.

Panther product and Crow, Montana McKinnon finished with a game-high total of nineteen disposals and a game-high tally of six marks.

Nicole Campbell also impressed with eighteen touches as did Gypsy Schirmer who finished with fifteen touches and a goal.

Encounter Bay product, Tess Huxtable, also made her SANFLW debut in the blue and white.

Yet these strong performers weren't enough to help the Panthers, who were put on the backfoot very early but, thanks to some strong and clever defending, they were able to minimise the damage.

Jaslynne Smith showed her signature composure down back with an intercept mark within just the second minute of play.

Just a minute later, second-gamer Jaimi Griffen chased down her opponent to catch them holding the ball, which stopped an almost certain goal in the process.

Impressive defending aside, things didn't look promising for the Panthers who, despite starting with the wind advantage, only collected three inside 50s to the Redlegs eleven.

Although Norwood were dominating the inside 50s, they weren't reflecting it on the scoreboard.

An impressive smother by Sophia Flanagan-Sjoberg along the wing helped give the defenders a quick chance to catch their breathbut the Panthers still struggled to get a clean possession past the centre circle.

Just as it looked like the Redlegs had finally broke through, a clever smack of the ball by Emily Brockhurst cleared it away from danger.

But the heroics of the backline could only last so long, and Norwood eventually broke through with the first of the match with just over a minute left until quarter time.

The second term was much of the same, yet this time Norwood had the aid of the wind and they certainly made the most of it.

By the time Tamara Page kicked truly from medium range to hand the Panthers their first of the night, Norwood had already kicked two.

Renee Moon and Mckinnon continued to provide the Panthers with plenty of options through the middle, yet two goals in four minutes by the Redlegs turned the second term into the game winning quarter.

Trailing 1.2 (8) to 5.2 (32) at halftime, the Panthers had plenty of work to do during the second half.

But things were made even harder when Jade Halfpenny, the Norwood father-daughter product, booted her second goal of the match after just a minute into the third term.

However, credit to the young Panther outfit who refused to roll over even despite Halfpenny's goal which increased the Panthers deficit to five goals.

Because, within a minute of Norwood's goal, Jess Kirk collected the ball off the deck and kicked truly for her first of the day.

Then Schirmer followed up by gathering the ball out of the pack and quickly kicking a goal to cut the deficit to three goals.

Tahlita Buethke stepped up with an intercept mark at half forward to help keep the pressure on the Redlegs and the Panthers began to take the advantage of their newfound momentum.

Providing a glimpse into the Panthers of old, South then threatened to claw themselves back into the game by having three scoring shots within three minutes, but all registered behinds.

This efficiency once again proved to be very costly, as the Panthers would finish with a 38 per cent efficiency compared to Norwood's 78 per cent.

Kate Fenton's goal for Norwood in the final term all but sealed the loss for the Panthers, who continued to fight but ultimately fell to a 3.5 (23) to 7.2 (44) loss.

South Adelaide will now travel back to Coopers Stadium to face Central District on Friday March 12, from 6:00pm.

Show the Girls that your are #SouthProud in 2021!