South Adelaide claims 34-point win over North Adelaide

SOUTH Adelaide showed it is a team to watch with a second straight win - this time a 34-point triumph over North Adelaide at Prospect Oval.

SOUTH Adelaide showed it is a team to watch with a second straight win over a top-three side from last season — this time a 34-point triumph over North Adelaide at Prospect Oval.

Playing a brand of football built on maintaining possession and strong defensive pressure, the Panthers withstood a massive third-term fightback from the Roosters and ran over the top of them in the final quarter.

It was another impressive showing under new coach Brad Gotch after beating West Adelaide at Noarlunga in round one.

Panthers spearhead Brett Eddy had a major say on the result, booting six goals, setting up two others and plucking seven marks.

Magarey Medallist Joel Cross (23 touches, eight clearances, one goal) starred for South, though what pleased Gotch was the number of contributors to the win.

Midfielder Brent Macleod (20 disposals, two goals), ruckman Keegan Brooksby and hard-nosed Jake Veide were among the others to shine.

Gotch said the back-to-back wins would help the players’ psyches and instil belief in his system.

“We’re a very even side and if we have even contributions, you can see what we can produce,” Gotch said.

As impressive as South was in the first two quarters racing out to a 31-point half-time lead, North was sluggish.

It had difficult finding space amid the Panthers’ immense pressure and moved the ball too slowly by foot.

But the third quarter was all North.

The Roosters fought their way back into the contest through winning the stoppages, better pressure, quicker forays forward and back-to-back goals from Cohen Thiele.

Rather than fall away, the Panthers stood up to the challenge.

A big mark and goal from Lachlan Boyd late in the term steadied the ship and pushed the margin out to 12.

South then took the sting out of North’s charge at the start of the final term through goals to Boyd and Nick Liddle.

“We would’ve learnt a lot out of that third quarter but you’ve got to go through that experience to get better,” Gotch said.

“We fought through it, withstood their charge and put it back onto them.”

In the opening stages, North lost spearhead Alan Obst for the day to a hamstring injury.

His absence proved costly, as forwards Luke Mitchell and Rhys O’Keefe struggled to have an impact and were goal-less.

Roosters coach Ken McGregor said despite the third-quarter comeback his side did not deserve to win the game.

“We didn’t come to play in that first half and we were slow and reactive,” McGregor said.