South Adelaide smash North Adelaide in lopsided SANFL battle
South Adelaide needed to beat North Adelaide to stay alive in the race for the finals and they got the job done in style at Noarlunga.
South Adelaide is still alive in the race for a finals berth after crushing a disappointing North Adelaide by 79 points at Noarlunga Oval on Sunday.
The Panthers needed the two points to climb within a win of Sturt and Norwood with one round remaining. And a significant by-product of the magnitude of the win is improving its percentage above the Redlegs and within .09 of the Double Blues.
The Panthers will host Adelaide in the final round, while the Double Blues must contend with top side Glenelg at home. The Redlegs will start hot favourite to beat struggling West Adelaide at Richmond Oval on Friday night.
“There is hope for another week and we can enjoy each other’s company and look forward to having pressure on the teams above us,” Panthers coach Jarrad Wright said.
“We are in a position where we are still alive, but we still need to win. That is something in our hands and whatever happens in other games happens.
“We have still got to beat Adelaide and we need to stick to the process and that is what we did against North. We defended really well, set up around the contest strongly, had good balance inside and out and we have got to maintain that form into next week.”
The Panthers had so much riding in the outcome, the Roosters had very little incentive in shocking weather conditions at a ground where their record is poor.
That is how it panned out on the field with the Panthers in complete control and playing with far more enthusiasm, more passion for the contest and in a much better head space to contend with the conditions.
The Panthers attacked the body and ball, applied tremendous pressure and moved the ball with far more authority. Simply put, they just wanted it so much more.
It took the Roosters 23 minutes into the third term to nail their first goal and that came after a free kick to Alex Barns.
Defender Joe Haines continued his outstanding form for the Panthers, Abe Davis had an influence on the ball and in attack and youngsters Jesse McKinnon and Eamon Wilkinson each bagged three goals.
Onballer Aidan Tropiano was among the few Roosters to have a red-hot crack.
“(Coach) Josh’s (Carr) message to the players after the game was one team rolled up to play in the conditions and got better as the game went on,” Roosters football manager Darryl Wintle said.
“We rolled up thinking it was a bit of a game with nothing on the end of it, that was the disappointing thing.”
SCOREBOARD
SOUTH ADELAIDE 4.2 8.4 12.7 15.9 (99)
NORTH ADELAIDE 0.1 0.4 1.5 2.8 (20)
BEST — South: Haines, McKinnon, Davis, Rose, Karpany, Wilkinson, Crabb. North: Tropiano, Coombe, Spina.
GOALS — South: Davis, McKinnon, Wilkinson 3, Fitt 2, Irra, Overall, Cross, Karpany. North: Barns, Harvey.
UMPIRES — Sobieraj, Morgan, Hundertmark.
CROWD — 931 at Flinders University Stadium, Noarlunga.