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League Match Report

SANFL Trial 2
Flinders University Stadium - 16/03/19

Goals: Overall 3, Fitt, Whittlesea 2, Irra, Biemans, Davis, Haren

South Adelaide's League escaped a dangerous pitch invader but couldn't overcome North Adelaide in their trial game at Flinders University Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Play was interrupted towards the end of the second quarter after a reasonable sized brown snake found it's way onto the oval.

The snake slithered under the fence in the south western pocket and was noticed by umpires and players as North's Alex Barns attempted a set shot at the same end of the ground.

Play was abandoned for the remainder of the quarter as both teams headed back to the change rooms while the snake was successfully captured by a local snake catcher.

Unfortunately, the reptilian invasion did not spook the Roosters enough for the Panthers to make a complete comeback and the hosts succumbed to a 11.7 (73) to 13.8 (86) defeat.

South began the game with a bang, as the returning Emmanuel Irra broke free and goalled on the run minutes after the first bounce and Anthony Biemans added a second shortly after.

North steadily worked their way back into the contest with Keanu Miller capitalised on a poor kick out to get his side on the board.

Both teams were playing a free flowing game style and despite a few pre-season jitters it loomed to be a high-scoring affair.

The Roosters made the most of it and headed to the first break with a nine point lead.

The visitors moved into control of the contest in the second quarter and started to consistently win the ball out of the middle of the ground.

It steadily became clear how important centre clearance work will be under the new 6-6-6 starting positions rule as North scored quickly on repeat entries with their key forwards winning one out in attack.

Keenan Ramsey and Barns did the majority of the damage for North, with the pesky Lewis Hender also bobbing up for a pair.

The Panthers forwards also benefitted from the greater space to lead and work their defenders one-on-one.

Tall forward Sam Overall was an imposing presence throughout the contest, taking several strong contest marks and leading South's scorers with three goals.

Meanwhile, Tom Whittlesea and Liam Fitt also added two goals a piece.

Irra's run and carry continued to impress in the vast expanses of Flinders University Stadium, while Nick Liddle looked like he hasn't missed a beat in his first hit out of the season.

New recruit Malcolm Karpany also did some nice things with the ball in hand and Abe Davis and Joel Cross continued to accumulate possessions.

South were the more switched on side after the snake-enforced longer break.

The hosts steadily worked off signs of rust and as the skill errors reduced their scoring impact increased, winning the second half 5.5 to 3.3.

Ultimately it was the visitors that walked away with the win, but there were plenty of positive signs for Jarrad Wright's men to build upon in their lead up to round one.

The League side play their final game of the trial matches phase at 1:10pm this Saturday playing against the Eagles at Flinders University Stadium.

Their game is bookended by the Reserves (10:30am) and Senior Women (3:45pm), both also against Woodville-West Torrens.

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