South Adelaide Reserves @ Central Districts Reserves
Round 13 - X Convenience Oval - 02/07/2022

Goals: Shillabeer 4, Gill 3, Brown, Nye 2, Hindes, Rogers, 
Best: Shillabeer, Nye, Douglass, Collins, Rogers

South Adelaide Reserves stormed home to claim their biggest win of the season with a 44-point victory over Central District at X Convenience Oval on Saturday.

The halftime break signalled a scuffle between the sides: but upon coming out to resume the match, the Panther Reserves let their actions do the talking as they piled on 8 goals to 2 in the second half to win big, 13.9 (87) to 6.7 (43).

Among the standouts for the Panthers were Cooper Rogers, who finished with 23 disposals, 13 tackles, 7 clearances and a goal; and Harry Spacie, who collected 20 disposals and laid 11 tackles. Jacob Collins was also busy gathering 18 disposals, 7 tackles and 5 marks. 

The Panthers' efficiency up forward can be put down to Ben Shillabeer, who booted 4 straight goals from his 6 kicks; and Brian Gill, who slotted 3 straight majors from his 5 kicks.

Heading into this match on the back of their upset win over Glenelg - the Panthers looked lively. After conceding the first goal, the Panthers responded with a thumping goal courtesy of makeshift ruckman Sam Hindes. 

Then Dylan Brown – after catching his opponent holding the ball – beautifully picked out Brian Gill with a pinpoint pass. Gill then went back and finished the job to hand the Panthers the lead for the first time.

Gill made himself known again during the latter stages of the opening term with his second goal of the game. This gave South a slight buffer – that was until a freekick handed the Bulldogs’ a goal after the quarter-time siren and the lead in the process.

Facing a narrow 2-point deficit at the first change, the Bulldogs made it 8 with the opening goal of the second term. However, a push by the Panthers had the visitors trapped within South’s forward arc.

This pressure kept building, thanks to a one-handed magical mark by Aaron Douglass, and it eventually broke the Bulldogs’ backline and Shillabeer was able to snag his first of the day.

The Panthers then honoured the late-great Neil Kerley by playing some hard, gutsy, and courageous footy: Liam Nye and Jake Cresswell in particular put their bodies on the line.

This gutsy stuff by the Panthers soon paid off as Gill polished off an end-to-end play with his third of the game. This gave South the lead – and made the Dogs' frustration boil over as the scuffle broke out at halftime.

Leading 5.4 (34) to 4.5 (29) at halftime: the Panthers ran away with the game in the second half. Jack Flett nearly ran the entirety of the field without getting caught: his sprint ended with Shillabeer’s second goal of the day – and from there, the game was the Panthers.

Douglass and Dayne McGary were both strong behind the ball, while Dylan Brown made sure to keep the pressure on the opposition.

While the Bulldogs would score the final major of the day – which came within 30 seconds of the final siren – the damage was already done. The Panthers, in total, piled on 8.5 (53) after halftime while only conceding 2.2 (14).

And with that, the Panthers' biggest win of their season yet was sealed, 13.9 (87) to 6.7 (43).

South Adelaide will now return to Flinders University Stadium where they will face off against Glenelg for the fourth time this season, with this clash set for Saturday, 9 July, from 11:10am.