Norwood holds off upset to beat North Adelaide by six points at Prospect Oval
IT WAS scrappy, slippery and at times feisty, but an inaccurate Norwood did enough to outlast North Adelaide in a six-point thriller at Prospect Oval.
IT WAS scrappy, slippery and at times feisty, but an inaccurate Norwood did enough to outlast North Adelaide in a six-point thriller at Prospect Oval.
An upset looked on the cards when the Roosters held a one-point lead in the closing stages after fighting back from a three-goal three-quarter time deficit in wet conditions.
But Redlegs goalsneak Kane Murphy bobbed up at the fall of the ball 24 minutes into the final term and dribbled through a major off his shin at the top of the goal square to seal the result.
Key statistics will suggest Norwood could and perhaps should have won by more, given it finished with 24 more inside 50s and 11 more scoring shots.
A raft of missed goal scoring opportunities and a gritty effort from the Roosters, who entered the game on the back of a five-game losing streak, ensured it went down to the wire.
Redlegs coach Ben Warren was pleased his side was able to find a way to extend its winning run to five matches.
“I thought we were pretty good in the first three quarters and then they won the footy pretty easily in the last quarter around the ground,” Warren said.
“We showed great resilience in the end and got the ball going our way in the last five minutes to make sure we got that goal to get in front then were able to hang on.
“It was terrific character by the playing group to keep at it.”
Although Murphy proved the match-winner, it was Matt Panos who finished as the game’s most memorable performer.
He amassed 30 disposals, two goals and a whopping 17 clearances — 11 more than anyone else on the ground — to again push his name to AFL scouts.
North will not be credited with a win but it almost felt like one for a club which had lost its previous three games by 44, 78 and 62 points.
Boosted by the return from injury of brothers George and Max Thring, the Roosters’ running game was on song early and the home side jumped out to a 3.2 to 0.5 quarter-time lead.
Norwood’s first seven scores were behinds and it took until the 12-minute mark of the second term to boot a goal — through Mat Suckling.
The Redlegs then put the clamps on North until three-quarter time, launching a barrage of inside 50s and trapping the ball in its attacking half through a well-organised press.
Some North players appeared to lose concentration as the game slipped away and became heated.
There was a stage during the third term when scuffles broke out every 30 seconds or so but it did not affect Norwood, which booted five goals to two for the quarter.
Against the momentum of the game, North fought back in the last, hitting the lead after the ball cleared a pack and Michael McMahon ran into an open goal.
But it could not hold on.
“We probably played better than we did in round one when we had a win,” Roosters coach Ken McGregor said.
“We hope we’ve taken a step forward from where we were, having said that we were coming from such a low base and still have a long way to go.”