One-Percenters: Lindsay Thomas kicks eight for Portland and head count confuses players

Former Power goalsneak Lindsay Thomas booted a bag of eight in local footy on the weekend but his side still fell short. Plus players on both sides are left confused after a botched head count.

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Welcome to One-Percenters – a wrap of some of the quirky talking points from across the Adelaide Footy League.

Each edition we will bring several titbits – they might be eye-catching results, milestones, comebacks, big wins, broken droughts or inspiring stories.

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Here are some things that caught our eye in round three:

LINDSAY LETS LOOSE

Lindsay Thomas was kicking goals from everywhere at Port Reserve on Saturday.

He snapped them, nailed them from the pocket and slotted set shots.

The former Port Adelaide and North Melbourne forward booted a bag of eight – bigger than any haul during his AFL career – for Portland in division three but the Thunder were still unable overcome Old Ignatians in a 14.14 (98) to 12.8 (80) defeat.

Lindsay Thomas in November after signing with the Thunder. Picture Sarah Reed

Thomas, in his first season at the club after retiring from the elite level, has now kicked 15 goals in the first three rounds.

But it has been a strange old season for Portland.

The Thunder opened their campaign with a stirring seven-point victory over Flinders Park as Thomas debuted with three majors.

Round two saw a frantic finish at Harpers Field as they came from behind to draw with Golden Grove.

Then, on Saturday, Portland once again fought back from 19 points down at half-time and then drew level with a Thomas goal 10 minutes into the final term.

Back-to-back majors from Jackson Jurisevic steadied the ship for Iggies before 31-year-old Thomas booted another to give his side a sniff.

Old Ignatians closed the match out with two goals in the final minutes to put the match to rest.

Thomas attempts to tackle Flinders Park’s Jay Hansen in round one. Picture: AAP/Brenton Edwards

Thomas was named second best for Portland behind Dale Laslett, while Jurisevic, Sam Boots and Patrick Connelly led the way for Iggies.

The Thunder will be hoping to improve its 1-1-1 record this Saturday when it goes to Largs North Reserve to take on North Haven in a highly-anticipated local rivalry.

HEAD COUNT CONFUSION

Players from both sides were left with bewildered looks on their faces when a head count was called in the division one clash between Payneham Norwood Union and St Peter’s Old Collegians.

Less than a minute into the second half at Payneham Oval the match was stopped and players were lined up and counted by the two field umpires.

PNU players called for the count.

But both sides were found to have the correct number of players (18) on the field.

SPOC let out some tongue-in-cheek cheers once the side was cleared of any rule breach and play was able to continue.

Falcons coach Garry McIntosh said the decision to call for the head count came from on the field, not the sideline.

“It wasn’t called by our bench, which is a little bit frustrating,” McIntosh said.

“I think there was just a bit of confusion out there among the players because they had a bloke run off the ground only about 15 seconds into the quarter.

“But we’ll address it this week. It wasn’t a major issue but did potentially cost us a shot at goal.”

SPOC coach Geoff Riddle said his side had the correct number of players at all times and also said an early rotation may have caused the call for a count.

“They thought we had 19 on the field, which wasn’t the case,” Riddle said.

“We started with 18 but I had a guy on the bench who I wanted to get on, so we had him standing on the sideline ready for an early rotation and I think that might have just confused them.”

The reigning division two premiers were too good for the Falcons at the end of the day, triumphing 16.11 (107) to 13.12 (90).

McIntosh said his side was off their game and SPOC took advantage.

“We probably only played about 15 minutes of good footy and our defence was down, which is unusual for them,” he said.

Liam Davis has featured in the Falcons’ best every game so far this season. Picture: AAP/Keryn Stevens

Alex Forster is part of PNU’s dangerous forward line. Picture: AAP/Keryn Stevens

SPOC has impressed on promotion to the top tier and Saturday’s win over an early-season favourite has backed up the thoughts of several division one coaches, who highlighted it as a contender prior to round one.

Riddle said they did their homework on a Payneham team he described as “quality”.

“They’ve got some guys that can really hurt you – (Liam) Davis, (Alex) Forster and Nick Jolly up forward, (Jonathan) Giannini, (Cameron) Milne plus a few others – so finding ways to restrict them was a focus.”

NIGHTMARE MISS

A chance to fulfil every young footballers dream was spurned at Glandore Oval on Saturday as Golden Grove missed a shot after the siren to win against Westminster Old Scholars.

The Kookaburras trailed by two points after a tight affair all day in the division three clash and were fortunate to get a chance to win it.

With the ball in the Golden Grove forward line Josh Habel – caught halfway between a snap at goal and passing it off – ballooned the ball in the air only for it to fortunately fall to teammate Shane Walker.

Walker marked the footy right as the siren went and the umpire paid the grab, despite protests from the Dragons defenders.

With the game on the line, Walker’s shot faded to the right for a point.

Westminster won 11.9 (75) to 10.14 (74).

It made it two heartbreaks in as many rounds for the Kookaburras.

In round two they led by 13 points at home to Portland only to draw 13.8 (86) apiece.

At Haslam Oval there was another one-point finish in division four as Pembroke Old Scholars edged past Woodville South, 8.17 (65) to 9.10 (64).

The Kings came from two goals down at the last change to steal victory.

Pembroke midfielder Jaiden Pengelly kicked what would prove to be the winner, roving the ball smartly from a throw in before an ice-cold finish for the goal.

Woodville South’s James Bailey kicked a major with a minute remaining to draw back to a goal down but the Cats could not get over the line.

IT ALL ADDS UP FOR BROADVIEW

Some spooky stuff the past two rounds from Broadview’s C2 outfit, who hold the mantle of the league’s most consistent side.

In round two the Tigers defeated Seaton 17.13 (115) to 1.3 (9)

In round three they beat Athelstone 17.13 (115) to 1.3 (9).

Yes, you read that right.

Not only has Broadview kicked the exact same score back-to-back weeks, they have held their opponents to identical totals.

As we said, spooky.

DOMINANT FORWARDS KICKING BAGS

It’s still pretty early but we already have plenty of big bag-kicking full forwards stamping their mark in their respective competitions.

Antonio Scaffidi-Muta has booted the most across the league with 24 majors to his name already for Blackfriars Old Scholars in division five reserves.

A huge bag of 15 in round two has boosted Scaffidi-Muta’s numbers.

Payneham Norwood Union’s Liam Davis is leading the goal kicking race early in division one.

Davis has booted 13 goals so far after kicking four in round one and five the past two weeks.

Sacred Heart Old Scholars’ Tristan Caruro tops the leaderboard in division two with 12 and it’s no surprise that Portland’s Lindsay Thomas leads division three’s race with 15.

In the fourth tier, Walkerville’s Adam Proud has 19 goals to his name – an awesome haul of nine against Woodville South last Saturday is his best so far.

Andrew Liverton from Kenilworth is top of division five’s goal kicking tally with 16.

Para Hills’ Daniel Weetra may not be leading the goal kicking in division six – he has 13 and is behind West Croydon’s Scaffidi-Muta (14).

But Weetra’s amazing 11-goal performance in his side’s 25.14 (164) to 10.8 (68) win against Ingle Farm at the Paddocks last Saturday deserves a mention.

There’s a five-way tie for the number-one goal kicker in the seventh tier.

Daniel Burgess (Adelaide Lutheran), Matt Pendlington (St Paul’s Old Scholars), Oscar Richards (Mawson Lakes), Tom Hamilton (Central United) and Tom Schlocker (St Paul’s Old Scholars) have all booted 13 majors.

UNBEATEN CLUBS

After three rounds we have five clubs across the league which are yet to lose a match in any grade.

Division two’s Unley Mercedes, division five’s Hope Valley and Pulteney, division six’s Elizabeth and division seven’s Adelaide Lutheran are all 9-0 across their A, B and C grades.

Which club will keep the streak going the longest?

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Posted by Elizabeth Football Club on Saturday, 27 April 2019