North Adelaide keeps premiership dream alive beating Sturt in SANFL semi-final at Adelaide Oval
NORTH Adelaide’s fairytale transformation from SANFL wooden-spooner to flag contender has continued as it saw off reigning premier Sturt by 58 points at Adelaide Oval to advance to the preliminary final.
NORTH Adelaide’s fairytale transformation from wooden-spooner to flag contender has continued as it saw off reigning premier Sturt by 58 points to advance to the preliminary final.
The Roosters led at every change and dominated the bulk of the contest to down the Double Blues 16.15 (111) to 8.5 (53) in Sunday’s semi-final at Adelaide Oval.
It owed much to North’s relentless pressure without the ball and its ability to transition at pace with it – hallmarks of Josh Carr’s side’s stunning revival this season.
Indeed the Roosters registered 63-36 inside 50s, 393-300 disposals and 52-41 tackles in a commanding display. But the Double Blues hung in the match to trail by just 11 early in the third term.
Three North majors late in the premiership quarter all but sealed a memorable triumph for North and ended Sturt’s premiership defence.
Aidan Tropiano (34 disposals) and Maris Olekalns (27) impressed for the Roosters, while Lewis Hender booted five goals. Carr praised the all-round team effort which moved his team to within one triumph of an unlikely grand final berth.
“The boys settled into the game well, one with our pressure and then two with the way we moved the ball,” Carr said.
“I was confident the boys could run the game out which they did in the end. Now that we’re in this position, we’ve got a big game next week. But we’ll worry about the grand final if and when it comes.”
Skipper Zane Kirkwood and Sam Colquhoun (33 possessions each) battled hard for Sturt. Key men Aidan Riley and James Battersby (23) shook off knocks to take their places for the Double Blues.
But coach Marty Mattner said his patched-up team, which also collected injuries to Tom Harms (ankle) and John Greenslade (shoulder), ran out of fit bodies.
“We backed a few (injured) guys in today, but it didn’t work out for us,” said Mattner, who revealed he would make a decision on his coaching future in the next week. “The boys did everything today to try to win and I thought we played pretty well with the amount of guys we had injured.”
North raced to a 19-point quarter-time lead on the back of an explosive start.
Alex Spina goaled within two minutes, but Sturt hit back from its first inside 50 of the match through Kirkwood.
The Roosters booted the next four to press home their advantage, but two late second-term goals to the Double Blues’ Jake Sutcliffe and Mark Evans kept them alive.
The Roosters pushed out to a 32-point buffer in the third quarter as unanswered majors to Sam McInerney, Max Thring and Boyd Woodcock set up the win. Hender hammered the final nail into the Sturt coffin with three outstanding final term goals.
The Roosters will meet the Eagles in next Sunday’s preliminary final. The Eagles lost Sunday’s second semi-final against Norwood by 17 points.
The preliminary final winner will meet the Redlegs in the grand final.
SCOREBOARD
NORTH ADELAIDE 5.2 8.7 12.11 16.15 (111)
STURT 2.1 6.2 8.3 8.5 (53)
BEST – North: Tropiano, Hender, Olekalns, Rozee, Allmond, Clisby, Woodcock.
Sturt: Kirkwood, Colquhoun, M. Evans, Edmonds, Stephens.
GOALS – North: Hender 5, Ramsey, Woodcock, Spina 2, Barns, Wilkie, Sweet, McInerney. Sturt: M. Evans 2, Kirkwood, Slimming, Hone, Taggert, Sutcliffe, Riley.
INJURIES – Sturt – Harms (ankle), Greenslade (shoulder).
UMPIRES – C.Bowen, D. Sobieraj, A. Crosby.