South Adelaide survive late Glenelg charge to win thriller at Noarlunga
SOUTH Adelaide was forced to survive a last-quarter Glenelg rampage to hold on to a five-point win at Noarlunga Oval on Saturday.
SOUTH Adelaide was forced to survive a last-quarter Glenelg rampage to stretch their winning record in Noarlunga to 11 games.
In control of the contest with a 40-point buffer at the final change, the Panthers held on in a frenetic finish to triumph by just five points.
The Panthers won all 10 home games last year.
It was the Tigers’ first loss for the season after conquering Port Adelaide and reigning premier Sturt at the Bay in the opening two rounds.
“It was a pretty good first quarter, we owned the second quarter, the third quarter we owned, the last quarter leaves a sour taste,” Panthers coach Garry Hocking said.
“I was very happy with the first three quarters, but that last quarter was disappointing. It is just a solid win, rather than a great win against a good quality team playing good footy.
“It is hard to win in this competition, there are great sides and every opportunity to win is good. But when you are 40 points up, you want to get your group to come out and be brave.”
The Tigers’ tackling pressure was impressive early and they retrieved plenty of turnover ball to create terrific movement, only to fail to capitalise on their chances going deep into attack.
It took the Panthers 16 minutes to impact on the scoreboard with a behind, the players were dropping simple marks and there were too many skill errors.
However, late in the first quarter the Panthers were able to get some fluency into their game with Brede Seccull dominant on the ball and Sam Overall a headache for the Tigers defence.
After nailing the game’s first goal three minutes into the contest, the Tigers did not add another major until 16 minutes into the second term. The Panthers pressure was outstanding, creating indecision among the Tigers.
The Panthers constantly responded to any Tigers challenge, until the final quarter.
The Tigers got their hands to plenty of ball at the stoppages and they continued to bombard the forward 50m with effective delivery. Youngster Jack Haarsma was able to quell Seccull’s influence and the Tigers ran in numbers.
“You can’t win a game off one quarter,” Tigers coach Matthew Lokan said.
“South was dominant for much of the first three quarters but they were coming off two days less break and we knew they were going to slow down.
“To our credit, the boys were pretty good in that last quarter, but fell short.”
SCOREBOARD
SOUTH ADELAIDE 3.1 8.4 12.4 12.6 (78)
GLENELG 1.2 3.4 5.6 11.7 (73)
BEST - South: Cross, Overall, Liddle, Seccull, Fields, Rose. Glenelg: Agnew, Haarsma, Howard, Earl, Scott, I. Milera.
GOALS - South: Overall 5, Seccull 3, Fields, Haren, Barnes, Fairlie. Glenelg: Scott, I. Milera 3, Vitkunas 2, McBean, T. Milera, Sellar.
INJURIES - South: Barnes (groin).
UMPIRES - Scott, Bau, Burke.
CROWD - 1589 at Hickinbotham Oval, Noarlunga.