League Match Report

South Adelaide vs Norwood
Round 2 - Coopers Stadium - 08/04/18

Goals: Liddle, Cross 3, Overall, Moyle, Davis, Fairlie, Brooksby
Best: Summerton, Heaslip, Cross, Liddle, Cailotto
Injuries: 

South Adelaide has come away from the Parade empty handed after Norwood turned up the heat at the Parade.

In sweltering conditions, the Panthers were overrun by a classy Redlegs outfit that surged to a 19.13 (127) to 11.14 (80) win in the second half.

South Adelaide held firm until midway through the second term. Despite some poor kicking in front of goals (4.11 in the first half, 1.8 in the second term alone), the Panthers found themselves only six points down at the 13th minute mark of the second.

However, the Redlegs would kick the last two goals of the second quarter and push the lead to a 17-point margin at the main break.

The major damage was done in the third term where the Redlegs lifted it up a notch.

Sam Baulderstone began to work his way on top in the ruck and classy on ballers Matt Panos (26 possessions and three goals) and Mitch Grigg (35 and two) got their hands on plenty of the ball.

As Norwood took control of the stoppages they began to make South pay on the smaller deck at the Parade and kicked away to a 40-point lead by the last change.

The old firm of Joel Cross and Nick Liddle fought hard all afternoon, gathering 43 touches and slotting six goals between them. However, the team effort that undid Glenelg on Good Friday was not evident and the Panthers missed the wider spread of contributors.

Emerging midfielder Ben Heaslip also battled through the middle of the ground, but along with consistent defender Matt Rose was the only other Panthers to eclipse the 20 possession mark with 21 and 25 respectively.

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The Redlegs simply worked harder than their opponents as a unit, getting their hands on the ball first (41 clearances to 29) and spreading harder to find the holes in South's defence (248 disposals to 190) and then using it more efficiently (122 marks to 76).

The Panthers backline found themselves under plenty of duress, conceding 61 inside 50s to 47.

However, the issue came from the centre of the ground, with the likes of Panos (nine inside 50s) and Grigg (six) let off the chain too easily and the hosts allowed to surge forward in uncontested numbers.

Key defender Jake Summerton was one of South's best performers, holding the imposing Luke Surman to just one goal despite the Panthers backline finding themselves under a barrage of forward entries, as was milestone man Alex Cailotto who helped restrict the influence of Norwood's tall targets.

Most of the damage on the scoreboard was done by Norwood's midfield and small forwards, with Panos, Grigg, Simon Phillips, Caleb Edmead and Luke Wilson combining for 14 of the Redlegs 19 major scores.

With several shining lights emerging from the Reserves nail-biting loss earlier in the day, senior coach Jarrad Wright will have plenty to assess ahead of this Saturday's clash with the Crows at Hickinbotham Oval.

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