Sturt notches second win, Redlegs run riot over the Bulldogs and South fights out gritty victory
The Redlegs remain undefeated, the Eagles kick the first four majors before being held goalless by Sturt, plus South’s young guns impress. All that and more in Messenger Community News’ wrap of SANFLW round seven action.
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- Norwood extends unbeaten in SANFLW round six
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- Panthers beat Roosters by one point with last kick
The Redlegs are still undefeated, the Eagles kick the first four majors before being held goalless by Sturt the rest of the match, plus South’s young guns impress.
All that and more in Messenger Community News’ wrap of the SANFLW round seven action.
STURT 8.14 (62) WOODVILLE-WEST TORRENS 4.4 (28)
Sturt coach Danijel Herbut says his side’s ability to remain cool under pressure and stick to structures were behind it beating Woodville-West Torrens at Peter Motley Oval on Saturday.
The Double Blues were down by 17 points at quarter-time but held the Eagles to just four points for the remainder of the match to triumph 8.14 (62) to 4.4 (28).
It was Sturt’s second win of the campaign and the margin should have been higher but inaccuracy in front of goals plagued the hosts.
“The girls had to work hard because they gave the Eagles a four-goal head start,” Herbut said.
“But to their credit they stuck to our structures and were not nervous about the fact they were down by that much early on.
“Full credit to my playing group to be able to stick to our structures, continue playing our methods and that got us back into the game and we were then able to run away with it, which was nice.
“We’ve been working on getting a bit more goal-orientated and take our opportunities but I thought once we struggled in the first half we were able to reset and we did a good job in the second half.”
Alexandra Ballard was strong up-forward to the hosts, finishing with 2.3, while co-captain Georgia Bevan continued her impressive form with 19 touches 11 tackles and seven clearances.
Eagles coach Tess Baxter said her players needed to get better at handling momentum swings.
“For our group, it’s just getting that consistency,” Baxter said.
“When they play well, they play really well but when it starts to fall down, we have problems scrambling back from that.
“Unfortunately, there’s a lack of football experience but there’s not too many excuses we could make.
“We just needed to knuckle down and fix it up for next week.”
NORWOOD 7.9 (51) CENTRAL DISTRICT 2.1 (13)
Norwood’s undefeated record remains in tact following a dominant display against Central District on Saturday.
The Redlegs ran riot to record a 7.9 (51) to 2.1 (13) win at Elizabeth.
Norwood midfielder Najwa Allen, who was recruited to the club from Canberra, continued her strong form, racking up a game-high 30 disposals and two goals.
Hannah Dunn and ex-Adelaide Crows AFLW player Monique Hollick amassed 22 disposals apiece.
Former Australian swimmer turned Norwood ruck Leah Cutting was also solid with nine disposals, nine tackles, 24 hit-outs and a goal.
Norwood held Central goalless in the second and third term while slamming home five majors – two in the second quarter and three in the third.
Laitiah Huynh, who was nominated for the competition’s rising star award in round four, impressed for the hosts with 15 possessions, four tackles and three clearances.
Gemma Doughty and Jayme-Lee Sonneman were next best with 13 touches.
Abbey Scheer and Isabella Wilson were the Bulldogs’ goalkickers.
SOUTH ADELAIDE 6.7 (43) GLENELG 2.3 (15)
South Adelaide coach Rick Watts says his side will need to work much harder and get better at handling pressure if it wants to beat Glenelg again this Saturday.
In a twist of the fixture, the Panthers and the Tigers will face off just eight days after locking horns for the first time this season.
South enjoyed a 28-point victory against Glenelg at Glenelg Oval on Friday night but Watts said the result was hard-fought.
“Glenelg played a very one-on-one physical game and they really restricted us a fair bit,” Watts said.
“They were competitive the whole game and had a few chances in the first and second quarter which they didn’t take so we were probably lucky in that aspect.
“I think when teams are physical with us and when the pressure comes, we probably need to modify our game a bit,
“In the third quarter we had 47 handballs and only 28 kicks but we’d like to have the handball to kick ratio a bit lower.
“We overused the footy a bit.
“Our natural game is to handball ourselves out of trouble but we’ve got to learn that sometimes we need to just get it on the boot and gain territory.”
South’s youngsters including Hannah Munyard (23 disposals, three clearances and a goal) and Teah Charlton (20 touches, 11 tackles) led the way, while Indy Tahau finished with 21 hit-outs.
“Hannah Munyard was fantastic,” Watts said.
“She’s been playing through the midfield the past three or four weeks and she’s really getting a handle on how to play that position.
“Emogen Johnson played a really good game as well.
“But we are pretty pleased with where we are at and we are tracking along nicely.”
NORTH ADELAIDE 8.5 (53) WEST ADELAIDE 5.3 (33)
North Adelaide has jumped into the top four after a solid victory against West Adelaide on Saturday.
Roosters coach Matt Slade was pleased his side had earned some reward for its effort after slowly building into some solid form the past few weeks.
The 8.5 (53) to 5.3 (33) win at Prospect Oval was North’s third in a row and helped it move into third place with three minor rounds remaining.
“It’s been a long wait, we’ve been outside the top four for what seems like forever, even in a short season,” Slade said.
“I think it was a bit of relief and I threw it up at them (the players) after the game and said ‘we are finally back where we probably belong’ and they seemed pretty excited by that.
“It’s been a tough start to the year but we are getting there.”
North is set be even stronger this week with the return of midfielder Britt Perry and defender Ashleigh Woodland.
They featured in the AFLW this year with Greater Western Sydney and Melbourne respectively.
The Roosters women’s win capped a standout day for the club.
It followed on from the men’s unfurling of their 2018 premiership flag and first victory of 2019.
ROUND EIGHT
Saturday, April 13
■ Sturt v Norwood – Peter Motley Oval, 11am
■ Glenelg v South Adelaide – Glenelg Oval 3.45pm
■ Woodville-West Torrens v North Adelaide – Woodville Oval, 3.45pm
■ Central District v West Adelaide – Elizabeth Oval, 3.45pm
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