Glenelg seal SANFLW finals berth after Tigers win, Bloods lose in final minor round, while Roosters smash Double Blues
Crows star Ebony Marinoff helped Glenelg beat Woodville-West Torrens to steal a finals spot from West Adelaide, which lost to South Adelaide, while North Adelaide thumped Sturt. Here is Messenger Community News’ wrap of the final minor round.
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In a thrilling last minor round of the SANFLW, North Adelaide enjoy a 48-point win against Sturt and Glenelg beat Woodville-West Torrens to steal a finals spot from West Adelaide, which lost to South Adelaide.
Here is Messenger Community News’ wrap of the last minor round.
STURT 2.5 (17) NORTH ADELAIDE 9.11 (65)
Sturt coach Danijel Herbut says his side showed plenty of promise in its second SANFLW campaign but lacked the experience and polish to match it with the best teams.
The Double Blues ended their 2019 season in sixth spot after a 9.11 (65) to 2.5 (17) loss to finals-bound North Adelaide at Peter Motley Oval on Saturday.
Although Sturt only claimed two wins from 10 games, Herbut said his team was young and players would only get better with another year under their belts.
“Unfortunately for us we had two players – midfielder Cherie Bamford and defender Nikki Liston – fall pregnant, so they were two key outs,” Herbut said.
“Then we lost Shae Gundlach to the army, so that was another dominant centre half-back.
“They were three big outs for us which meant we were implementing a lot more youth into our squad and we didn’t think we were going to do that this year.
“So overall with how young we were, I think we performed really well.
“We saw in each game periods were we dominated football but I think because we were so youthful there were times when we just dropped away quite badly.
“But that’s OK, we will improve now and we’ve got lots of game time into those girls.”
Sturt co-captain Georgia Bevan was solid against North with 21 disposals and nine clearances, while Kate Harris and Sophie Hayle were the hosts’ goalkickers.
“I was happy with the way we contested the footy around the ground and with how much possession we had,” Herbut said.
“It was just that every time North Adelaide went inside forward 50 they were a bit more cleaner and able to score.”
Roosters coach Matt Slade was happy to win leading into the finals.
But he said there was lots of room for improvement ahead of the semi-final against Glenelg this weekend.
“We were probably a bit disappointed the first quarter didn’t resemble what we were training for,” Slade said.
“But in the second quarter we rectified that but then the second half wasn’t as clean as what we were after.
“Kicking efficiency wasn’t great across the whole game and we are looking at being fast and clean.”
NORWOOD 12.9 (81) CENTRAL DISTRICT 2.1 (13)
Norwood finished the season in top spot and won its final minor round against Central District by 68 points at Alberton Oval on Saturday.
The Redlegs outclassed the Bulldogs with their experience, superior skills and fitness to triumph 12.8 (81) to 2.1 (13).
They held Central scoreless until early in the third quarter when Jayme-Lee Sonneman goaled.
Ex-Crows AFLW-listed forward Katelyn Rosenzweig was the Bulldogs’ other multiple goalkicker and scored with seven and a half minutes gone in the third quarter.
But the Bulldogs failed to score again in the final stanza as the Redlegs ran amok.
Demi Sonneman (19 touches) battled well for Central, as did Kimberley Fry (13 possessions).
Central had no answer to SA basketball great Jo Hill, who starred up forward with four goals straight.
Canberra recruit Najwa Allen was again on fire for Norwood, finishing with 29 touches and five clearances.
Ex-Adelaide Crows AFLW players Sophie Armistead (20 disposals, nine clearances) and Monique Hollick (20 possessions, two clearances) were also strong for Norwood.
GLENELG 7.9 (51) WOODVILLE-WEST TORRENS 5.2 (32)
Glenelg jumped ahead of West Adelaide and into the finals after the Tigers beat Woodville-West Torrens on Saturday and the Bloods lost to South Adelaide.
The Tigers entered the final minor round in fifth position – one win behind the fourth-placed Bloods but with superior percentage.
Glenelg’s 7.9 (51) to 5.2 (32) victory against the Eagles at home, coupled with West’s 6.7 (43) to 4.3 (27) defeat to the second-ranked Panthers, helped the Bays snatch a finals spot.
It will be the Tigers’ first finals campaign in the competition’s three-year history.
Crows dual AFLW premiership midfielder Ebony Marinoff starred for the Tigers with 36 disposals, nine clearances, nine tackles and a goal.
“We are trying to keep a lid on it to be honest,” Glenelg coach Jason Fairall said.
“We are in some uncharted territory as a club in the women’s program.
“We don’t just want to be making up the numbers we want to see how far we can go.
“The Eagles were very physical and I think they actually played a pretty good four quarters.
“In all honestly our skills were probably on display in those first three quarters.”
SOUTH ADELAIDE 6.7 (43) WEST ADELAIDE 4.3 (27)
South Adelaide secured a double chance in the finals after a 16-point win against West Adelaide at Noarlunga on Saturday.
The Panthers’ 6.7 (43) to 4.3 (27) triumph was hard-earned and they were forced to overcome a slow start to stitch up second spot on the ladder.
West led South by seven points at half-time.
But the Bloods were then held to just two points during the second half, while the Panthers slammed through 5.1.
The hosts led most of the key statistics, including contested marks (11-4), tackles (57-53), hit-outs (18-11), but both sides ended the game with 13 clearances apiece.
Crows AFLW-listed midfielder Nikki Gore led the way for South with 20 touches, while Nicole Campbell (17 disposals) and Czenya Cavouras (16 possessions, four clearances) were also solid.
Madison Bennett was the Panthers’ multiple goalkicker, finishing with two.
THIS WEEK
Semi-finals
■ North Adelaide v Glenelg (knock-out) – Norwood Oval, Friday May 10, 6pm
■ Norwood v South Adelaide (double-chance) – Norwood Oval, Friday May 10, 7.45pm
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