Soaring Sammy: Sam Overall was magnificent in attack for the Panthers, claiming several strong marks against the Crows. Image: Nick Hook Photography

Seniors Report

South Adelaide vs Adelaide
Round 2 - Encounter Bay Oval - 16/04/17

Goals: Overall 4, Seccull, Haren, Barnes 2, Fields, Rankine, McMahon
Best: Overall, Rose, Gotch, Liddle, Rankine, Seccull

South Adelaide's encounter with the Crows saw the Panthers fall six points short in a hotly contested Easter Sunday match in Victor Harbor.

A late run of goals, in which South kicked four of the last five goals, had Panthers fans dreaming of 2016's heroics that saw the men in blue and white rein in a six goal deficit and Daniel Bass slot the winning major with just seconds remaining at Hickinbotham Oval.

Sadly time ran out before South could pull off an Easter miracle on come home with the chocolates.

The Panthers were dealt a major blow prior to the first bounce as dual Magarey Medallist Joel Cross was withdrawn from the contest with a knee complaint. Ending a string of 122 consecutive matches and missing the first game of his career at South Adelaide, Cross was replaced in the 21 by hard-running midfielder/wingman Richard Newell.

The Crows looked ominous early, with Harry Dear creating headaches for the Panthers defence. If not for some wayward kicking (Dear sprayed 0.4 in the first term) and late goals to Sam Overall and Brede Seccull the outcome could have been much worse than the nine-point deficit Garry Hocking's men faced at quartertime.

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However, as they did against West Adelaide, South lifted when challenged and remained within a couple of kicks at the main break.

Again in the third quarter South Adelaide enjoyed a period of dominance and even edged their noses in front midway through the term. However, as it was for most of the game, the Crows pressure on the Panthers ball carriers was immense and by the final break they had regained the lead.

Adelaide looked the better side in the final term and zipped out to a 26-point buffer thanks to early goals to Dear and 150-gamer Jonathon Beech. South stormed home, kicking four of the last five goals, but ultimately time proved their biggest enemy and Adelaide's lead proved unassailable.

Sam Overall continued to impress up forward with his aerial prowess, clunking seven strong marks on his way to four goals.

Matt Rose (27 touches and seven marks), Xavier Gotch (26 disposals and eight marks) and Nick Liddle (27 possessions, seven marks and seven inside 50s) found plenty of footy for the Panthers. Rose in particular shone across halfback and was also provided a spark when injected into the midfield late in the match.

Meanwhile, Brede Seccull and Matt Rankine were also lively, finishing with 17 tackles and three goals between them.

The Panthers next challenge comes against an unbeaten Glenelg side at 2:10pm this Saturday, April 22 at Hickinbotham Oval.

Prior to the match, the club will be celebrating the Carey-Darley Cup (book your seats via the link below) and honoring the ANZACs with a service before the first bounce.

Join us at the Carey-Darley Cup!