South Adelaide vs Adelaide
Round 12 - Flinders University Stadium - 25/06/2022

Goals: Heaslip 3, Freitag 2, Gunther, Wilkinson
Best: Heaslip, Sladojevic, Haines, Clavarino, Ramsay
Crowd: 975

A dismal day to forget as South Adelaide fell to the Adelaide Reserves by 59 points at Flinders University Stadium on Saturday.

The result on Saturday was not indicative of where the Panthers are sitting. It was a tough day, a rough day, and a sour way to celebrate Ben Heaslip’s 100th match. 

After starting well, the Panthers were outmatched during the second half. The boys in the blue and white registered 3 goals after halftime but conceded 9 – which cemented their 7.6 (48) to 15.17 (107) defeat.

Highlights from the bitter result however included Heaslip, who commemorated his milestone match with 3 goals for the second consecutive week.

Likewise, Daniel Sladojevic continued to go from strength to strength, and Joe Haines racked up 40 disposals and 12 marks.

Also among the best was Oscar Clavarino, who continued his fine pre-bye form; and Sam Ramsay, who impressed during his return from injury.

Things started well. The Panthers, who started with the strong breeze, looked lively early. And within the opening minute, the side was on the board thanks to a quick crumb and goal by Heaslip.

Not long later, Damon Freitag snapped his first to hand the Panthers a 14-point lead.

Freitag was soon at it again, this time with an unselfish pass to Harrison Gunther who went back to kick the Panthers’ third for the opening term.

However, the classy talent on offer by the Crows – particularly Crouch – meant the AFL-laden side was tough to shake off.

The Panthers struggled to build a decent buffer over the visitors and, by quarter time, held a narrow yet promising 8-point lead, 3.3 (21) to 2.1 (13).

After the visitors strung together the first 3 goals of the second term, Heaslip struck with a late steadying goal to breathe excitement back into the Panther faithful – which easily outnumbered their opponents.

The Panthers then headed into halftime facing a nerving deficit, 4.3 (27) to 6.7 (43).

The early minutes of the third term were a mini frenzy for South.

Freitag started it when he snapped his second major of the day. Minutes later, Heaslip struck with his third of the match to cut the deficit to 4 points.

However, from here the Panthers would register one more major score for the remainder of the match. Which would come via Eamon Wilkinson late in the fourth term.

Following their fast start, the Panthers were overrun. The visitors collected 68 inside 50s compared to South’s 36, which put immense pressure on the Panthers' usually sturdy backline. By the time the siren sang, the final margin had been stretched out to a 59-point defeat, 7.6 (48) to 15.17 (107). A tough day indeed.

Needing to bounce back: South Adelaide will now take the longest trip in the SANFL as they head to X Convenience Oval to face Central District in a must-win clash on Saturday, 2 July, from 2:10pm.

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