South Adelaide is into a second, consecutive SANFLW grand final after beating Norwood in the semi
South Adelaide is one win away from winning back-to-back SANFLW flags after beating Norwood, while North Adelaide put an end to Glenelg’s inaugural finals berth. Here is Messenger Community News’ wrap of the two semi-finals.
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The weather is certainly getting cooler but SANFLW action is heating up with the first round of the finals series complete.
South Adelaide is through to a second, consecutive flag decider after beating Norwood in their double-chance semi-final, while Glenelg’s campaign came to a heartbreaking end after losing to North Adelaide.
Here is Messenger Community News’ wrap of the two semi-finals:
NORWOOD 3.3 (21) SOUTH ADELAIDE 5.4 (34)
South Adelaide is through to a second, consecutive SANFLW grand final after beating Norwood in their semi-final at Norwood Oval on Friday night.
The reigning premier stunned the Redlegs from the first bounce with their attacking, quick brand of football and took an 18-point lead into half-time.
Panthers coach Rick Watts said starting the game well was a big focus after a few sluggish first quarters this season.
“It (the win) was very unexpected but we are very excited,” Watts said.
“It was a really competitive game and the standard was fantastic.
“It’s (slow starts) is something we identified halfway through the year and it’s something we have focused on.
“I spoke to the girls a little bit differently before the game and gave them a bit of a rev up so that seemed to work.
“It was mainly their mental and physical application.
“Within the first five minutes of the game we put on scoreboard pressure and were able to manage the game from there.”
Nicole Campbell (15 touches, six tackles and three clearances) and Crows AFLW-listed midfielder Nikki Gore (15 possessions, five clearances) stood tall for South.
Norwood coach Steve Symonds said his players had quickly moved on and their attention was firmly on the preliminary final against North Adelaide this Friday.
“Our group is a pretty strong group, they’ve already regrouped,” Symonds said.
“Straight after the game (against South) they were pretty keen to get back into it.
“We’ve got full respect for North … every game we play against them has always been a tough game so we are expecting nothing less.”
The Redlegs’ cause was not helped with star midfielder Najwa Allen hobbling off early in the second quarter due to a knee injury.
Allen returned to the field with her knee heavily strapped and finished with 20 possessions, three tackles and a clearances.
Hannah Dunn (18 touches, six tackles and three clearances) and Hannah Priest (17 touches, six tackles) also battled hard.
“We moved the ball too slow, we didn’t attack the game,” Symonds said.
“We were on the back foot from the first 10 minutes.
“We fought back which was the pleasing part but we fell short in the end.”
NORTH ADELAIDE 4.1 (25) GLENELG 3.5 (23)
North Adelaide coach Matt Slade says a full-four quarter, team effort is needed to beat Norwood in the preliminary final this Friday night.
The Roosters’ finals campaign continues after they beat Glenelg in a heart-stopping knockout semi-final at Norwood Oval last Friday.
North was able to hang on and claim a two-point win against the Tigers and Slade expected another tough, pressure-filled game against the Redlegs.
Lauren Daniel (17 disposals, two clearances) and Amber Ward (14 touches, five tackles were best for North, while Kelly Barltrop booted two goals.
“I think we are a chance of winning the game (against Norwood),” Slade said.
“It requires everyone playing well, though.
“When we try to rely on five or six players playing well that’s when we get into trouble.
“The difference is everyone has to play their role for four quarters.”
Against the Tigers, North led by nine points at quarter-time Glenelg fought back and held the Roosters to just one point in the second term to snatch a four-point lead.
No team scored in the third term but North booted two goals to Glenelg’s one in the final quarter to seal the win.
“I guess a bit of confidence can be taken out of it (the win),” Slade said.
“But it was very scrappy, there was no space.
“We didn’t play well but it wasn’t through a lack of effort, it was a bit messy and there was a lot of pressure.
“No one was really able to break away and it was pretty intense the whole time.
“There wasn’t a lot of open, free-flowing footy, it was very scrappy.
“There was a lot of tackles and a lot of stoppages, which was pretty frustrating but we came off on the right side of it.
“The beauty from our perspective is that we won it in that last quarter so they are resilient and it shows we’ve come a long way sine the beginning of the season.”
Glenelg coach Jason Fairall was left to lament the Tigers’ failure to capitalise on their opportunities.
Glenelg won most of the key statistics including contested marks (8-5), hit-outs (30-15), clearances (23-19) and inside-50s (28-22) but could not put any real scoreboard pressure on North.
Crows AFLW premiership midfielder Ebony Marinoff almost single-handily won Glenelg the game and finished with 38 possessions, eight clearances, nine marks and nine tackles.
Skipper Cass Hartley (17 touches) was also strong.
“If you look at the stats, we probably should’ve won,” Fairall said.
“We had more scoring shots, more contested possessions, we controlled the territory battle for about 55-60 per cent of the game, we just couldn't cash in when we had a bit of momentum.
“We let our concentration slip for a couple of minutes in the last quarter, so we kind of got what we deserved for not ticking all the boxes.
“It was probably just our polish and North did put us under a lot of pressure.”
Crows AFLW premiership midfielder Ebony Marinoff almost single-handily won Glenelg the game and finished with 38 possessions, eight clearances, nine marks and nine tackles.
Skipper Cass Hartley (17 touches) was also strong.
PRELIMINARY FINAL
Friday, May 17
■ Norwood v North Adelaide – Norwood Oval, 7pm
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