MRS Property Reserves Match Report Round 8: vs Central District

MRS Property Reserves Match Report

South Adelaide vs Central District
Round 8 - Flinders University Stadium - 29/05/21

Goals: McCreery 3, Freitag, Tucker
Best: Coleman, Schwarz, Machin, Lovering, Tucker, McCreery

South Adelaide Reserves stunned Central District with an eight-point upset win at Flinders University Stadium on Saturday.

Despite heading into the match as the underdogs and suffering from a slow start, the Panthers were able to regroup and record their second win of the season, 7.16 (58) to 7.8 (50).

The inaccuracy-plagued Panthers struggled to make the most of their chances during the opening term, finishing with 19 inside 50s to 6 but trailing by 13 points at the first break. Things looked more dire as they lost exciting midfielder, Dylan Barry, to a collar bone injury just five minutes into the first quarter.

A man down and kicking just six behinds during the first term; it looked like the Panthers were set for a repeat of last week. That was until Darnell Tucker struck with a much-needed goal to help break the Panthers' goalkicking drought.

From here, Jake McCreery followed up with two goals in four minutes to put the Bulldogs on the back foot; before Damon Freitag finished with his first goal of the day to increase the Panther-friendly buffer to 13-points.

The halftime siren would sound to signal the promising 4.10 (34) to 4.1 (25) lead, a 22-point turn around that the Panthers would defend valiantly for the next two quarters.

The third term saw the Panthers push to increase their lead, but their wayward kicking would sour most of their attempts and they would finish with just one major for the quarter.

With Nic Schwarz, 34 touches, and Tate Coleman, 30 disposals, providing plenty of ball movement for the Panthers along with Aaron Douglass remaining steadfast in defence; the boys set out to protect their lead for the final 26 minutes of play.

After some tense minutes, Tucker broke through for his second of the day midway through the final term. Following suit, McCreery registered his third of the day just two minutes later and it looked as if the Panthers were home.

But the Panthers couldn't rest, with Central District kicking two goals in as many minutes; and with just three minutes left on the clock their lead had been cut to just eight points.

Remaining composed, the boys in the blue and white were able to close the game out brilliantly by disallowing the visitors anymore looks inside 50 for the final few minutes of the match.

The 7.16 (58) to 7.8 (50) win sees the Panthers lift themselves to seventh on the ladder, and they will look to keep this momentum going when they face off against West Adelaide at Hisense Stadium on Sunday, 6 June, from 11:30am.

Are you on board for 2021?