A day to forget against the Double Blues for both our League and Reserve Boys.

South Adelaide V Sturt
Round 13 - Wigan Oval - 16/07/2023

Goals: Fitt 4, Sproule, Wilkinson 2, Douglass, Sampson, Shillabeer
Disposals: Haines 32, Mutch 24, Sampson 23, Draper 21, Davis, O'Neill 19
Best: Fitt (Thanks to Betta Home Living McLaren Vale & Victor Harbor), Draper (Thanks to Sports Power), Mutch (Thanks to Jimmy Deane's), Brooksby, Haines
Injuries: Shillabeer
Crowd: 2, 258

After a loss in last week’s contest versus North Adelaide the League side were looking to get back on track against Sturt in Round 13.

In some good news on the selection front, there was a few handy inclusions heading into the game in Sam Skinner, Matt Rose, and Zachery Sproule all back from injury.

It was a challenging first quarter for the Panthers side as the pace and toughness of this Sturt side was proving to be true.

The Panthers side would concede seven major scores in the opening term, as getting a hold of the ball and moving around freely proved difficult.

Liam Fitt did well in kicking the first major score for the Panthers early in the quarter, a deep kick forward would be brought to ground and the read by Fitt was perfect, getting a swift pickup and snapping around his body for an impressive goal. Sturt would begin their charge after this.

As it would happen Eamon Wilkinson would remain resilient and kick two goals late in the term.

Firstly, a booming set shot from 50-metres out was spot on then, he would follow up with another set shot from 30-metres out doing well to convert and provide some hope for the Panther's. 

In the second quarter Sturt were still taking charge securing four major scores, negating many of the opportunities being made by South Adelaide. 

Sid Draper, in just his second game, made sure to stand strong against bigger competition, ending his game with 21 disposals. Hayden Sampson was also force in this contest, finishing with an impactful 23 disposals.

A stoppage would occur on the fifty-metre line up forward, off the tap Sampson would stream though, gather with finesse, and unleash just shy of 50-metres out, securing an important major.

Sturt would kick away once more but Ben Shillabeer who has been in great form around goals did well to convert on his set shot from 45-metres out later in the term.

At the end of the first half, the Panthers trailed by a considerable margin of 39-points. 

It was hard to get anything to go in this contest as Sturt were strong down back, the League side unable to open up the ground as they typically would.

The opposition would start well once again, ending the term with six major scores, a trend which was becoming hard to fight back from.

The league side did create at every opportunity and a returning Sproule was back to his usual self, taking a mark in the goal square and converting with his laser accurate kick.

Out of the middle the league side were scrabbling and unable to adjust in this term, to combat this every ball had to be won, Kobe Mutch being the catalyst of this movement, finishing with a game high 12 tackles.

After Sturt went away and kick four of their major scores Fitt would reply with his second, a strong mark was taken, now lining up from 40-metres out the kick was pure.

A tired opposition would allow for a South Adelaide burst, kicking four major scores in the final term. 

Fitt who had been dominant all day would go and kick two more, finishing his game with a team high four goals.

Aaron Douglass would kick his first League goal after being moved up forward late in the last term. 

With tired legs the Panthers would kick one more off Sproule’s boot, as his set shot on a tight angle from 35-metres out was perfect.

Despite the result, Joseph Haines was impactful, finishing the game with a team high 32 disposals and 9 marks.

The next opportunity for the League side will come against Central District on Saturday the 22^nd at X Convenience Oval in a 2:10pm timeslot.

South Adelaide Reserves V Sturt Reserves
Round 13 - Wigan Oval - 16/07/2023

Goal: Megins 3, Cockshell, Dunshea, Kramer, Ramsay
Disposals: Lovering 19, Megins 16, Freitag, Ramsay 15, K. Smith 14, Bradley 13
Best: Scott (Thanks to Sports Power), Freitag, K. Smith

In last week’s contest the Reserve's were too good for North Adelaide, headed into Round 13 against a tough Sturt side, it was going to take a team effort to keep the wining streak alive.

The Reserves would start strong out the middle, looking clean and moving with ease to opportunistic situations.

Koby Cockshell got the day started with a great mark and his defender, in frustration, would award a fifty and place Cockshell at the top of the square. From there it was easy, and the Reserves would kick off the games proceedings.

It wasn’t long until Sturt would reply but, the Reserves wanted all the smoke early in this game. Nick Kraemerkicking his first from 45-metres out.

In a back-and-forth fashion, the Double Blues would kick two major scores after this play.

Sticking to the theme the Reserves would work well to move the ball towards Oliver Meigns late in the term, where he would convert a 30-metre set shot to secure his first of the day.

It was looking promising for the Reserves as they would exit the first quarter up by 1-point.

In the second term a disaster would unfold, the Panthers would shut down and allow six major scores to be conceded.

This was a shock for all, it seemed that the Panthers had strayed away from their usual form and allowed Sturt to play their game on their terms.

Losing their ferocity, which was present in the first term, resulted in the Reserves heading into the main break with a 34-point deficit. 

The lapse of the second term was going to hurt the chances of getting a win in this contest, but the Panthers would work hard to not go down without a fight.

Moving on in the third term the Reserves would begin to clear out the middle once again, doing well to make opportunities up forward and provide plenty of second efforts.

Nic Dunsheawould kick the first of the term as he was granted a 50-metre penalty, placing him 30-metres away from home the set shot was silky.

Both sides would step on the throttle and provide some quick scores, after a Sturt reply Sam Ramsay would do well to kick his first from a 45-metre set shot on a slight angle.

Now looking back to their regular selves Megins would finish the quarter with his second major score from 20-metres out.

It was still going to be a massive climb to the top in this contest and the final quarter solidified the Reserves hope.

Sturt would go on another scoring frenzy in the last quarter kicking five major scores, completely destroying the reserves chances.

Megins did kick his third goal in this term, but it wasn’t enough. The Reserves fought hard  with Tate Lovering doing his best with 19 disposals

The Reserves will look to bounce back from this loss when they take on Central District at X Convenience Oval on Saturday the 22nd at 11:30am.