MRS Property Match Report Round 1: vs Adelaide

MRS Property Match Report

South Adelaide vs Adelaide 
Round 1 - Flinders University Stadium - 2/04/21

Goals: Fitt 4, Nobes, Skinner, Wilkinson 2, Horne, Milsom, Sampson, Tarca
Best: Gibbs, Summerton, Skinner, Freitag, Wilkinson, Tarca

South Adelaide celebrates the long-awaited return of Good Friday footy with an impressive ten goal win over Adelaide at Flinders University Stadium

The Panthers kicked off 2021 by welcoming the Adelaide Crows back into the competition with a convincing and stunning 14.18 (102) to 6.5 (41) win.

Fielding five debutants, the Panthers strung together four quarters of great footy while on their way to amassing 32 scoring shots from 62 inside 50s compared to the visitors 11 shots from 39 entries.

Facing off against his old side, Bryce Gibbs proved he looks better in the blue and white by collecting 36 disposals and five clearances.

While Damon Freitag, the Kangaroo Island product, celebrated his debut with 20 touches.

However, despite the end result it was the Crows who struck early with the first goal of the match to gain an early lead.

It was not until the ninth minute mark of the opening term that Panthers would be on the board with their first major of 2021, which came courtesy of debutant Jake Tarca.

Just three minutes later another debutant, this time Sam Skinner, kicked truly from close range to bump the Panthers lead up to double digits.

From kicking goals to setting them up, Skinner then passed off to Liam Fitt who drilled his first of four goals.

As the first term entered stoppage time, the Crows looked to score their first major since the second minute of play.

However, the Panthers were able to rebound the ball with tremendous pace, and eventually it fell into the hands of Tyson Brown who dished it to Reece Milsom who kicked his first of the season.

Moments later, South Adelaide then cleared it from the centre bounce and, after a massive kick inside 50, Skinner collected it off the deck and kicked quickly to score his second of the day.

Holding a 5.6 (36) to 1.0 (6) lead at the first change, it didn't take the Panthers long to strike again as Hayden Sampson collected the ball out of the stoppage and snapped the first goal of the second term after just fifty seconds of play.

Yet Sampson's goal would be the Panthers last until Jason Horne kicked truly at the sixteenth minute mark.

At which point the Crows had managed to halt some of the Panthers momentum with two of their own goals.

Overall the Panthers backline, which was spearheaded by Ben Haren and Jake Summerton, prevented the Crows' dangerous forwards from causing too much damage throughout the match.

The final minutes before halftime were a shootout between the two sides, with two goals going the way of the Crows while a clever sidestep by Eamon Wilkinson saw him open his goal kicking account for 2021.

Under the warm afternoon sun and in front of two thousand spectators, the second half saw the Panthers begin to really break the game open.

Yet it would be some time before a major was scored after halftime, as the two sides' midfields continued to trade blows.

This was perhaps typified during the opening minutes of the third term as there were several ball ups within South's own goal square.

The Panthers were well-supplied by Gibbs, who already had twenty touches to his name by halftime.

The usual culprits of Joel Cross and Matthew Broadbent were also impressive with their ball movement.

But it was Fitt who stole the show with his Goal of the Year contender.

In front of the scoreboard, he managed to gather the ball off the deck and gain enough control over it to snap it from the boundary line.

Continuing on with this momentum, Fitt booted two more goals within two minutes to bump the Panthers lead up to 45 points by the final break.

South Adelaide's rebounding potential was on full display during the final term when Gibbs, Sampson and Wilkinson all linked up through the middle before sending it inside 50.

From here it was plucked out of the air by Christies Beach recruit and Panther debutant, Daniel Nobes who celebrated his debut with a goal.

Nobes would follow up at the end of the quarter, as his thumping goal came after the siren to bump the Panthers score up to triple digits.

The 14.18 (102) to 6.5 (41) win sees South Adelaide sit top after Round One, and the side will look to build on this momentum when they face off against North Adelaide at Prospect Oval on Saturday, April 10, from 2:10pm.