Norwood overcomes spirited Glenelg for sixth successive win

NORWOOD continued its push for top spot on the SANFL ladder when it beat Glenelg for a sixth successive win.

Glenelg's Andrew Bradley under pressure. Picture: Tom Huntley

NORWOOD continued to impose itself on the state league when it stretched its winning streak to six games with a 32-point victory over Glenelg at The Parade on Saturday.

The win did not come without a spirited fight from the Tigers and Redlegs coach Jarrod Cotton was satisfied his side could get the job done when “it is a bit ugly”.

“Our best footy is when it is high scoring,” Cotton said. “But we were able to get our hands dirty.

“It was not pretty, but we laid a lot of tackles and put pressure on the opposition. From a character point of view, it says we can play that way.”

The Redlegs had the early territorial domination, but could not break free of the pesky Tigers.

Given the wet, windy conditions, the chances of an attractive game were slim. And there was no science behind the motives of the players, just push the ball forward in the slippery conditions.

Norwood's Ed Smart marks in front of Glenelg's Jack Yates. Picture: Tom Huntley

Lewis Johnston got his hands to plenty of ball as the link man for the Redlegs and Josh Glenn was among the few players whose skills were not diminished by the weather.

This was not a day for free-flowing action and the tackling pressure from both sides was terrific as players threw themselves into the fray.

Despite the cool weather, there was no lack of heat in the contest and the first half ended with most players involved in some push and shove.

The scrappy action stretched into the third quarter before the Redlegs took control with the final three goals of the term. The first of those was a brilliant individual effort from Glenn, grabbing the ball from the contest and snapping truly.

The home side had built a commanding advantage at three-quarter time and they were able to keep the Tigers, led by Matthew Snook on the ball, at arm’s length in the final term.

“We competed, we had 98 tackles and 117 ground ball,” Tigers coach Mark Stone said. “They had similar numbers.

“We competed, but our discipline to structures, discipline to certain things is lacking. Until that changes we will battle to knock down the better teams.”

SCOREBOARD

NORWOOD 3.3 6.10 10.12 12.13 (85)

GLENELG 3.2 4.5 5.10 7.11 (53)

BEST - Norwood: Panos, Abbott, Glenn, Georgiou, Gerloff, Shenton. Glenelg: Snook, Scott, Schott, Bradley, Curran.

GOALS - Norwood: Dawe, Gerloff 2, Grigg, Panos, Shenton, Baulderstone, A. Wilson, Bampton, Glenn, Smart. Glenelg: Scott 3, Bradley, Bailey, T. Milera, Nicholson.

UMPIRES - Schramm, Crosby, Harris.

CROWD - 2008 at Coopers Stadium, Norwood.