Precise Panthers pound disappointing Blues

SOUTH Adelaide went a long way towards playing in consecutive finals series for the first time in 23 seasons when it chalked a mature win at Unley on Saturday.

SOUTH Adelaide went a long way towards playing in consecutive finals series for the first time in 23 seasons when it chalked a mature win at Unley on Saturday.

The Panthers outworked, out-tackled and outplayed Sturt in a high-stakes match between the fifth and sixth-ranked sides and now have a five premiership point buffer on the Double Blues.

Sturt was disappointing given the importance of the clash and, in the end, the 39-point margin flattered it.

The Panthers monstered the Doubles Blues around the contest, winning the clearances by 20 and finishing the match with 100 more disposals, with Double Blues coach Seamus Maloney conceding his side was belted.

“We got smashed today,” Maloney said.

“They’re a good side and we needed to match them in work rate and intensity and we didn’t do it.

“They wanted to work harder inside the contest and they were willing to run harder ...

“We’re in a flat spot at the moment, there’s no doubt about that and the only way you get out of that is if you work really hard and we didn’t do that today.”

South set the tone for the clash in the opening term, when they won the clearances 16-6 and had almost double Sturt’s possession.

Brett Eddy looked dangerous up forward, kicking two opening term majors, and Sturt was lucky not be further than 21 point in arrears at the opening break.

The Panthers’ ball use off half back was a feature as they regularly switched play and dissected Sturt’s defence, often going end-to-end without a Double Blue player touching the ball or laying a tackle.

The only flaw in the Panthers’ performance was their finishing. They kick 2.6 in the second term to keep Sturt in the match and finished with 11.15.

Eddy kicked four goals and took 10 marks in a dominant and key forward exhibition but could have had seven or eight majors if he’d had his kicking boot on.

Some of the Panthers’ lesser-name players are developing into solid SANFL players and everyone coach Brad Gotch's side made a contribution.

“Clearances were certainly a big focus for us and so was our ball use and I thought we were good in those areas,’’ Panthers coach Gotch said.

“To win all four quarters was big. What’s been letting us down has been a quarter here, or a quarter there … To keep them to 6.6, that’s phenomenal.”