Sweet revenge as South Adelaide overpowers Port Adelaide at Noarlunga

REVENGE arrived quickly for South Adelaide, as the Panthers fired back at Port Adelaide’s round-nine upset with a 43-point win over the Magpies at Noarlunga on Saturday.

South Adelaide’s Brede Seccull handpasses past Port’s Jared Polec at Noarlunga. Picture: Matt Turner.

REVENGE arrived quickly for South Adelaide, as the Panthers fired back at Port Adelaide’s round-nine upset with a 43-point win over the Magpies at Noarlunga on Saturday.

South moved to 8-2 after what became a comfortable victory at home, but the final margin failed to tell the full story of the fight and the response to get there.

It took a dominant second half for the Panthers to capitalise on Daniel Bass’s superb ruck performance, but when South finally wound up its high-pressure, fast-moving game, the Magpies had no answers.

The damage was done in the first 16 minutes of a pivotal third quarter, when South kicked four goals without reply against the breeze to turn a two-point deficit at half-time into a 25-point lead by the final change.

When Brett Eddy (three goals) and influential onballer Xavier Gotch added the first two majors of the final term, the gap was out to 35 points and the memories of Port’s shock 48-point win four weeks earlier were long gone.

“It was good to respond the way we did,” South coach Brad Gotch said.

SCOREBOARD

SOUTH ADELAIDE 1.4 4.8 9.12 14.13 (97)

PORT ADELAIDE 3.2 5.4 6.5 8.6 (54)

GOALS: South: Eddy, Barnes 3, Trembath 2, Seccull, Gotch, Veide, Bass, Brown, Newell. Port: Butcher 3, Schulz 2, Sharrad, Houston, Gray.

BEST: South: Bass, Gotch, Seccull, Barnes, Veide, Crabb, Eddy, Fields. Port: Mitchell, Ah Chee, Sharrad, Summerton, Bonner, Polec.

INJURIES/REPORTS: None

UMPIRES: Sobieraj, Lewis, Philp

Irra Emmanuel of South marks over Jimmy Toumpas of Port at Noarlunga. Picture: Matt Turner

“Whether there was a little bit of a hangover from the last game we played, I don’t know, but Port came out full of confidence and took us on.

“But we willed ourselves back into the game, just by being a lot fiercer around the contest.”

South lacked composure early on, especially in attack, as they fumbled chest marks and simple handball receives.

They were punished on the turnover, as Port ran the ball back into its own half.

The Magpies jumped 16 points clear when John Butcher (three goals) snapped from the goalsquare inside the first three minutes of the second term.

South responded with its own three-goal burst, through Richard Newell, Eddy and Jake Veide, and began to earn rewards for their pressure and perseverance.

The Magpies never trailed until 16 minutes into the second quarter, and strong-marking Butcher gave the visitors the half-time lead courtesy of a huge grab over South skipper Brad Crabb.

But when South roared into the second half, the Magpies could not respond to the lift in intensity.

“Finding consistency for four quarters in our game has been a problem all year, and one we’re still searching to find the answers for,” Port coach Chad Cornes said.