MRS Property Match Report Round 9: vs West Adelaide

MRS Property Match Report

South Adelaide vs West Adelaide
Round 9 - Hisense Stadium - 06/06/21

Goals: Overall, Skinner 2, Bogle, Cross, Horne, Nobes, O'Neill, Sampson, Schwarz, Tarca
Best: Skinner, Sampson, Haines

South Adelaide regains second spot after surviving a late scare by a relentless West Adelaide outfit and escaping with a 3-point win at Hisense Stadium on Sunday.

The Panthers, who led by 25 points at the final break, were forced to desperately defend their lead while being two rotations down but ultimately they held out long enough to win, 12.9 (81) to 11.12 (78).

Making his impact felt around the ground was Sam Skinner, who finished with 17 touches and 2 goals, while in defence Joe Haines collected 31 disposals and 10 marks.

The Panthers came into the match without their skipper or strong defender Lonergan; but they regained Tyson Brown, Reece Milsom and Nic Schwarz. These players went to work early as the Panthers started the better of the two sides.

Kicking with the wind, Sam Overall was able to hold his juggling mark before going back to kick the opening goal of the game. Minutes later, a string of handpasses was finished off nicely by a Mitch O'Neill snap which increased the Panthers lead to double digits.

Continuing with this early momentum, Skinner showed his crumbing skills to collect, dodge and then kick truly for the third major of the match. But this time the Bloods replied just minutes later with their first goal of the day.

The goals then dried up for both sides as the match became a battle of the backlines. This was eventually broken when Alex Cailotto was able to intercept a West rebound then pass it to Ben Haren whose kick inside 50 was plucked out of the air for Overall, who went back and kicked his second of the match.

Yet the Panthers couldn't register another major for the term; and after Fraser Turner was cruelly hit with a deliberate out of bounds decision the Bloods looked to pounce late but their kick, which came within a split-second of the siren, missed to the far side to hand the Panthers a 4.5 (29) to 2.2 (14) lead at the first change. 

The second term was the Panthers turn to defend against the breeze and it did not look promising early as the Bloods kicked two goals within the opening minute.

The Panthers found some relief through a side-steadying goal by Skinner, but back-to-back goals by the Bloods in the minutes that followed saw them take the lead.

After minutes of defending, the Panthers were able to rebound with great speed; and Jason Horne was able to get his kick over the top of the defenders to Jake Tarca who struck with a lead-taking goal.

As the second term entered stoppage time, some desperate running by Jack Elsworthy and Milsom stopped an almost certain goal which saw the side enter the main break with the narrowest of leads, 6.5 (41) to 6.4 (40).

The third term saw the Panthers regain the wind advantage, and they had to use it to build a large enough buffer to hold off the Bloods. It was Hayden Sampson who answered the call within the opening minute as he was able to intercept a Bloods' kick out of defence and snap truly from the pocket.

Schwarz followed up minutes later with a much-needed goal before Joel Cross was able to crumb and snap a great goal to celebrate his 199th match.

With ten minutes left to use the breeze, Matthew Broadbent and Bryce Gibbs linked up through the middle; with Gibbs spearing kick inside 50 hitting Luke Bogle on the chest, which he used to kick his first of the day.

Jason Horne followed up a minute later with his first of the day, then Daniel Nobes massive pack mark was topped off with a beautiful kick to extend the Panthers lead to beyond five goals.

But as it looked as if the Panthers were going to run away with the win; a Westies end to end goal set the stage for what was to come in the final term. To make matters worse, Cailotto limped from the ground leaving the Panthers without their first-choice ruck.

An intercept mark by Sampson in the final minute stopped the Bloods from another certain goal; an action that would prove crucial when considering the final winning margin.

South Adelaide's injury woes continued into the final term when they lost Brown to injury and things looked dire as Brad Gotch's man came storming home with three unanswered goals.

Carrying tired legs, lacking the momentum and being two rotations down, the Bloods looked set for a dangerous rebound off halfback, but they were beaten by the siren which signalled the 12.9 (81) to 11.12 (78) wina win which sees the blue and white regain second spot.

South Adelaide will look to keep this winning momentum going when they face off against Norwood at Flinders University Stadium on Monday, 14 June, from 2:10pm.

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