Norwood battling to make the top five as mid-season slump continues
Adelaide has proven too good for Norwood, putting together a complete performance to overrun the Redlegs who now face a battle to play finals after three losses in a row.
Pre-season flag fancy and last year’s beaten grand finalist Norwood is battling just to make the finals after slumping to a third consecutive defeat against a powerful Crows unit at The Parade on Sunday.
After confirming their premiership favouritism by winning their first five games this season, the Redlegs have now lost five of their past seven to fall out of the top five and face a crunch match against second-placed Glenelg at the Bay next Sunday.
“We’ve got some work to do but I thought we took a step forward against Adelaide,’’ said Norwood coach Jarrod Cotton after his team huffed and puffed for three quarters but could not break down ladder leader Adelaide at home, losing by 37 points after a late goal surge by a team which fielded 17 AFL-listed players.
“I thought our effort and intent was the best it has been for a month and that our tackle pressure and inside 50s were really high, it was just our method going inside 50 that really hurt us.
“We didn’t execute properly in the third quarter and missed a few opportunities in front of goal and they just went down the other end and went bang, bang, bang (kicking three quick goals), which took the wind out of us a little bit.
“I couldn’t question our players’ effort and intent and ability to get at the opposition, it was the best it’s been for a while, but when you get that many inside 50s you need to make more of them.
“We’ve got some work to do but I think we showed against Adelaide that we are a very good team and we’ve given ourselves something to build on.’’
The Redlegs, who have been hit hard by injury this season but regained key men Matthew Panos, Matthew Nunn and Michael Talia against the Crows, were tough and spirited for nearly three quarters before conceding three goals in six minutes late in the third term which broke their resistance.
Shane McAdam put a dagger through their heart with two smart goals midway through the final term as Adelaide flexed its muscle when it counted most.
Norwood won the disposal count by 19 and inside 50s by four but lacked the class of its rival while also paying the price for some shocking turnovers.
The Crows, who retained top spot and have lost only one game for the season — to the Tigers at the Bay in round two — produced what coach Heath Younie described as one of their most even performances of the season.
Adelaide had only one player in the top five disposal winners on the ground — midfielder Patrick Wilson with 27 — but had few weak links.
“That was a high quality game of football — as good a game as I have seen at State League level since I have been back in the system and looking at it from a coaching perspective,’’ Younie said.
“Full credit to Norwood, who had great intent to come out and play, but to our guys’ credit to keep them to two goals in the second half was great defensively and to be able to score on the back of that, I was really proud of our guys’ efforts and contributions across the board.’’
SCOREBOARD
ADELAIDE 3.4 5.6 9.8 13.10 (88)
NORWOOD 4.3 4.7 6.12 6.15 (51)
BEST — Adelaide: Wilson, Knight, Otten, Himmelberg, Gibbs, Butts, Fogarty. Norwood: Johnston, Nunn, Panos, Grigg, Barry, McKenzie.
GOALS — Adelaide: Himmelberg 3, Knight, McAdam, Wilson 2, Fogarty, Jones, Strachan, Stengle. Norwood: Johnston 2, Surman, Panos, Gerloff, Wilson.
INJURIES — Norwood: Forster (hamstring).
UMPIRES — M. Schramm, T. Bryce, M. Sboro.
CROWD — xxx at Norwood Oval.