MRS Property League Match Report Round 2: Panthers fall just short

MRS Property Reserves Match Report

South Adelaide vs Glenelg
Round 2 - Adelaide Oval - 5/7/20

Goals: Sampson 3, Bogle, Fitt, Overall, Wilkinson 2, Dumesny, Kappler, Whittlesea
Best: Broadbent, Sampson, Summerton, Haines
Injuries: Nil

A spirited South Adelaide fight-back falls just one goal shy of an outstanding last quarter comeback as the Panthers lose to the reigning premiers Glenelg by five points at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.

Trailing by 45 points at the final break, the Panthers fought back and doubled their score but were beaten by the final siren, which sounded to give South a 14.8 (92) to 15.7 (97) defeat their first loss of 2020 and their first loss against Glenelg since 2018.

The reigning premiers started the better out of the two sides, as the Tigers booted two unanswered goals before Hayden Sampson (17 disposals) could reply with the Panthers' first goal of the match.

A long bomb by Liam Fitt only four minutes later saw South Adelaide cut the deficit to just single digits.

The Tigers came close to extending the lead on several occasions and would have if it were not for a diving intercept mark by Tom Highmore (15 disposals) as well as a desperate smother by Matthew Broadbent (19 disposals).

However, Glenelg were eventually able to breakthrough with two more unanswered goals before the Panthers were able to respond to via a goal by Sam Overall.

Both sides had equal opportunities with 12 inside 50s a piece during the opening quarter and the Panthers came close from going end to end to even the scores but unfortunately the siren bet them and sent them into the first break facing a narrow 3.1 (19) to 4.1 (25) deficit.

Coming out after the first break, the Panthers struggled to find any momentum and suffered from several costly frees and turnovers which saw Glenelg boot four unanswered goals in just the first eight minutes.

Trailing by five goals, the Panthers found some relief through Luke Bogle (six tackles) whose clever dodge allowed him to take a clear shot at goal.

Moments later an intercept by Broadbent allowed Tom Whittlesea to boot his first of the game.

Broadbent followed up a few minutes later with another intercept and a thumping kick inside South's forward 50 however, it was seen as a free kick and Glenelg regained possession.

The dying stages of the first half saw South Adelaide turn the pressure up with several inside 50s but all were wasted due to either misreading the ball in flight or because of costly frees.

Heading into the main break it was clear that the Panthers had plenty of work to do as they trailed 5.2 (32) to 11.5 (71).

With two quarters left to play, it was the Panthers who struck first during the third quarter through a goal by Eamon Wilkinson.

But the Panthers were not able to capitalise on the early momentum, as Glenelg once again booted two unanswered goals.

South Adelaide were able to steady thanks to a late goal by the second-gamer Zach Dumesny (15 disposals) and the Panthers continued to enjoy repeated forward 50 entries but similar to the second quarter, they unfortunately failed to reflect it on the scoreboard.

Despite having four more inside 50s, the Panthers faced a very ugly 7.4 (46) to 14.7 (91) deficit at the final break.

With plenty of work to do in the final term the Panthers again struck first through a thumping goal by Fitt.

Sampson then followed up just a minute later with his second of the match.

The Panthers began to make the most of their newfound momentum and began putting Glenelg's defence under immense pressure.

In the space of just two minutes both Wilkinson and Bogle booted their second goals of the match.

But it looked as if any chance of a South Adelaide comeback was gone as a costly fumble allowed Partington to boot his third of the match and steady the Tigers.

With Jake Summerton continuing to stand strong down back along with Joe Haines and Tyson Brown who were providing the Panthers with plenty of rebounding potential the Panthers made one last gutsy fight back.

With 19 minutes played, Overall booted his second goal of the match while Jaidan Kappler (14 disposals) was able to sneak down and boot his first of the day.

Joel Cross (24 disposals) and Cam McGree continued to fight desperately around the stoppages then a rebound by Haines allowed Sampson to run in and narrowly boot his third of the day to cut the Tigers lead to just a single goal.

With both teams fighting hard and visibly tired, the Panthers came close to levelling to scores but only managed a behind and the Tigers were just able to hold on to give South their first loss of the season.

However, the gutsy fight back means that the loss had a minimal effect on the Panthers' percentage, which sees the side still sit in a finals position.

South Adelaide will now look to bounce back against Central District at X Convenience Oval on Saturday July 11, from 11:45am.

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