Daily Grind Women's Match Report: Round 4 vs Norwood

Daily Grind Women's Match Report: Round 4

Saturday night sees South Adelaide suffer a 17-point defeat against Norwood at Flinders University Stadium.

It was a tough night for the undermanned Panthers as the side suffered an injury setback while on their way to record a 17-point loss, 2.5 (17) to 4.10 (34).

In the earlier Development game, Norwood booted 8 goals to 1 during the opening term to set up the bitter loss, 2.5 (17) to 10.6 (66).

Once again, Caitlin Ross was a standout alongside fellow young GSFLW recruits, Brooke Boileau and Alissa Brook.

Coming off this tough start to the day, and already having to line up without 2 key defenders, the Panthers were dealt a major blow just 5 minutes into the League match as they lost captain Brianna Wedding to a suspected knee injury – making it the second ruck that the side has lost this season to such an injury.

This unfortunate turn of events meant young Yankalilla product, Jemma Ellis, had to step for her team and she did exactly that by finishing with 20 hit outs and 15 disposals.

Losing their captain and ruck so early on into the match was tough enough, yet the side was put further onto the back foot as the Redlegs kicked 2 unanswered goals during the opening half of the first term.

It took a combination of Panther prospects to finally break through Norwood’s defence, with Esther Schirmer’s clever handpass over the top to Shae Archbold allowing her to drill the Panthers’ first goal of the night.

However, a late Leggies goal sent the Panthers into the first break facing a worrying deficit, 1.0 (6) to 3.6 (24).

This deficit only increased during the second term was the visitors kicked the sole goal for the quarter.

Despite not scoring a major, there were still some promising signs for the blue and white.

For instance, having had 16 touches and 9 tackles, Gypsy Schirmer was once again a strong contributor for the Panthers in her new position down back, while young Holly Ifould’s performance saw her get named as one of the South’s best players afield.

Needing to desperately find something to build on, Ella Radbone answered the call with a crucial goal on the run, which bounced across the line at the midpoint of the third term.

This seemingly flicked the switch for the side as the Panthers pushed for another late goal.

Archbold’s crunching tackle helped trap the ball inside the Panthers forward 50, while Nicole Campbell and Sam Pratt both helped keep the pressure on up with consecutive intercept marks.

But, with seconds remaining in the term, and with a holding-on call going begging, the side entered the final break trailing by 3 goals, 2.4 (16) to 4.10 (34).

Despite trying to break through with a final term fightback, the Redlegs ground the game to a halt. The tackle count, which was just under 200, is a good sign of the pressure that was put on the footy.

On the bright side, the Panthers won the tackle count, 100 to 93, with 21 of them coming from South’s Best on Ground and Crow draftee Nikki Gore alone, while the rest of the side had at least a tackle to their name.

And it was a tackle by Nari Wright inside Norwood’s forward 50 that helped keep the Redlegs from scoring a late goal but, with no goals coming from the other end, the side ultimately fell to the 2.5 (17) to 4.10 (34) defeat.

South Adelaide will look to turn their recent run of 3 losses around when they face off against last year’s Grand Finalists, West Adelaide, with the clash set to happen at Flinders University Stadium on Saturday, March 5, from 6:30pm.

South Adelaide vs Norwood
Round 4 - Flinders University Stadium - 26/02/2022

Goals: Archbold, E.Radbone
Best: N.Gore, G.Schirmer, Campbell, Ellis, Ifould 
Injuries: Wedding (Knee), Wright (Head)
Crowd: 450 

South Adelaide Dev vs Norwood Dev
Round 4 - Flinders University Stadium - 26/02/2022

Goal: Ross, Russell
Best: Ross, Boileau, Brook, Jacobs, Whish
Injuries: Kirk (Finger)

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