Under-18 Match Report: Round 17 vs Central District

Under-18 Match Report

South Adelaide vs Central District
Round 17 - Alberton Oval - 21/08/2021

Goals: Delean 4, Hoeck, Pearsons 3, S.Draper
Best: Miller, Hoeck, Deleam, Schroder, Verrall, Rogers

The South Adelaide Under-18s fall just one point shy of Central District during a nail-biting clash at Alberton Oval on Saturday.

The Panthers could not fend off the fast-finishing Bulldogs who kicked the final 4 goals of the match to hand the blue and white a narrow defeat, 11.11 (77) to 12.6 (78).

Impressive up forward for the Panthers was Jack Delean who finished with 4 goals and a team-high of 8 marks. Also impressive was Will Verrall, who finished with 26 touches and 29 hit outs, and Hugo Hoeck, who collected 18 disposals and 3 goals.

Having defeated the Bulldogs by 104 points only three weeks prior, this match looked drastically different from the outset—with the Bulldogs kicking the final 3 goals of the opening term to take 15-point lead into the first break.

Ryan Pearsons opened the scoring during the second term to bring the lead to within two straight kicks. However, the Panthers next 5 scores were all minors, which allowed the Bulldogs to strike late with 2 goals and send the Panthers into halftime facing a 3.7 (25) to 5.4 (34) deficit.

The third term was a shootout between the two sides as they combined for 7 goals, none of which were back-to-back.

Pearsons and Hoeck both registered their second majors of the match during the third term, while a Sid Draper goal midway through the quarter set up a massive final term.

With just 3 points separating the two sides, Hoeck got things going early into the final term after he intercepted a Doggies handpass and quickly snapped the lead-taking goal.

Delean then followed suit with 2 goals within as many minutes to stretch the Panthers lead out to 15 points.

14 minutes into the final term, Pearsons struck from a difficult angle to bump the lead to beyond 3 goals—and it looked as if the blue and white was home.

But it was not meant to be. Centrals booted 2 goals within 2 minutes to swing the momentum into their favour. Then, after many tense minutes, they struck once again with 2 goals in 2 minutes.

Trailing by a point and with a minute left, the Panthers tried one last desperate attack but a free kick on the wing all but sealed the 11.11 (77) to 12.6 (78) loss.

The fourth placed Panthers will now turn their attention towards the fifth placed Bloods, with the two set to meet at Hisense Stadium on Saturday, 28 August, from 2:10pm.