Brilliance by Emmanuel Irra inspires Panthers win over game Tigers

EMMANUEL Irra stamped himself as a star of the future as South Adelaide overcame an early Glenelg onslaught and a scoreless last quarter to win a Good Friday arm-wrestle by nine points at Noarlunga.

25/03/16 - SANFL - SOUTH VERSUS GLENELG. South's Jake Veide gets a handball away under pressure from Glenelg's Christian Howard. Picture Dean Martin

EMMANUEL Irra stamped himself as a star of the future as South Adelaide overcame an early Glenelg onslaught and a scoreless last quarter to win a Good Friday arm-wrestle by nine points at Noarlunga.

Sudanese-born refugee Irra turned the SANFL season opener on its head with a brilliant midfield display after the Tigers had bolted from the gates, kicking three goals in the first four minutes into the wind, including two from debutant Josh Koster.

Irra lit up Noarlunga Oval with his electrifying pace and silky skills in a standout performance which would have captured the attention of AFL recruiters.

The 21-year-old excitement machine, playing just his 27th match, looked a class above most other players on the ground and ignited a Panthers goal rampage in their matchwinning third term.

“He was exciting and has all of the elite attributes because he takes the game on, he’s got good skills, some speed and he’s clean,’’ South coach Brad Gotch said.

“He’s been showing it in the pre-season so we’ve thrown him more into the midfield rather than the wing and half-forward and he provided us with that bit of X-factor.

“I was impressed and I’d be surprised if he keeps going like it that upstairs (the AFL) won’t have a look at him.’’

Best-afield Irra finished with 23 disposals, five inside-50s and two goals as the Panthers blew the game open with a seven-goal third quarter and then held on gamely into the wind in the final term, when they failed to score.

“They jumped us early and then I thought we controlled the game for a long period before they came back at the end,’’ Gotch said.

“We were just happy to get away with it in the end and walk away with the points.’’

Dual Magarey Medallist Joel Cross (26 disposals and two goals) and Nick Liddle (26) joined Irra in being prolific ballwinners for South.

The Tigers began brilliantly to put an 18-point space in the teams in the opening four minutes with Koster — the son of dual Crows premiership player Kym — goaling with his first two kicks in league football.

The 18-year-old small forward/midfielder finished with three in a promising debut.

Ruckman Warwick McGinty (35 hit-outs), half-back Christian Howard, former Crow James Sellar and key forward Clint Alleway were other solid contributors for Glenelg.

“The biggest thing for us is that I thought we controlled a lot of the footy but our defensive pressure let us down at times and allowed them to get clean exits out of stoppages and through the middle of the ground,’’ said coach Matthew Lokan.

“We can take plenty out of the game but we’re not going to sit back and accept losses any more.

“As a footy club we need to continue to evolve and win games like that.’’

SCOREBOARD

SOUTH 4.2 6.6 13.7 13.7 (85)

GLENELG 4.0 6.4 9.7 11.10 (76)

BEST — South: Irra, Cross, Liddle, Fields, Rankine, Hitchcock, Eddy. Glenelg: McGinty, Howard, Sellar, Curran, Alleway, Snook, Rioli.

GOALS — South: Eddy 3, Irra, Cross, Barnes 2, Overall, Haren, Hitchcock, Rankine. Glenelg: Koster 3, Alleway 2, Bradley, McFarlane, Scott, Rioli, Kirkby, Milera.

UMPIRES — G. Lewis, T. Philp, S. Hosking.

RESERVES — Glenelg 15.10 (100) d South 8.6 (54).