SANFL 2020 -- Round 5 Wrap-Up

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raboyle

Norm Smith Medallist
May 8, 2001
5,661
803
X Convenience Oval, Elizabeth
AFL Club
Adelaide
Other Teams
CDFC (SANFL), Port Melb (VFL)
Hi Footy fans...

Earlier this week it seemed that SA footy-heads would have to endure yet another round of limited access to SANFL games, with the 1,000 maximum capacity rule still in play. On Friday, news broke that SA Health gave approval for up to 3,000 people. It should have been cause for celebration and perhaps some great turnouts from those that have only been able to watch via Seven or the on-line Digital Pass portal. Alas, only one game for the weekend managed to break the 1,000 mark. Whether this can be put down to individual club's reluctance to allow more people in, or the people's reluctance to turn out in fear of the much talked about second wave of the pandemic is anyone's guess. Probably the worst thing to happen is a rolling back of those lifted restrictions, which considering the repeated attempts at border running in the last week, wouldn't be totally out of the question at this point. Here's hoping that SANFL supporters that have missed out thus far will be able to front up this coming week because the clubs need them right now.

Welcome to the Round 5 edition of the SANFL Wrap-Up.

In the opening match to the weekend, we head over to the ACH Group Stadium in Glenelg for the first Saturday afternoon match between the Tigers and the Eagles. On their march to the flag, the Tigers took out all the points against the Eagles. In Round 6, the Tigers put on a clinic over three quarters and probably should have won by more than the final 50-point margin, the last quarter going goal for goal as the Eagles desperately tried to reel the deficit back at Oval Avenue. Later on in Round 12 at Glenelg, the Eagles kept pace with the Tigers for three quarters before running out of legs in the final stanza. The Bays kicked four goals to one to run out 15-point winners. The reigning premiers have hit a stumbling block as of late, the Bloods taking advantage last week with their 16-point victory. The Eagles on the other hand have been in sterling form, winning their last three games including last week against the Blues at home. The Eagles began the afternoon's proceedings with a 4.2 to 1.2 opening quarter, taking a three-goal lead into the quarter-time huddle. 12 minutes into the second quarter, the Tigers were back to withing a couple of straight shots of the lead having scored 3.2 to 2.1. But in the space of six minutes and to the probable horror of the Tigers faithful, the Eagles banged through five unanswered goals to Glenelg's measly single behind. At the half-time break, the Eagles were now out to a 40-point advantage. Perhaps having used a good deal of the energy in building their lead, the Eagles would now have to go into damage control as the Tigers mounted a desperate assault. However, inaccuracy in the third quarter prevented them from making any decent impact on the visitors' lead. The Tigers scored 4.4 to 3.3, cutting the gap down to 33 points by three quarter-time. The Tigers kept on coming in the final term, but their 3.2 wasn't going to cut it. The Eagles held firm, their score of 2.1 was enough to secure a 20-point win. Joe Sinor was named best afield for the Eagles, while the Tigers voted in Liam McBean as their best.

The second Saturday arvo match takes us down to the outer south and into the Flinders University Stadium at Noarlunga where the Panthers faced the Bloods. The Panthers won both games from the 2019 home and away season, the Bloods led early but were never really in the clear as South overran them in the final term to win by 32 points at Noarlunga. Then in Round 11, the Panthers overcame some early goal-kicking yips for a 28-point victory at Richmond. Both teams came into this game with wins from last weekend, the Bloods putting down the premiers at home by 16 points and the Panthers winning by 23 points over Sturt. South have been one of the real surprise packets so far this season, being the only team that has beaten the Eagles. Westies, whilst their win last week against the Tigers was impressive and they took the Blues to the limit, have been let down by some fadeouts. Those old habits seemed to resurface early on, they managed just one goal in the opening term while the Panthers kicked 4.2 to lead by 20 points at the first change. By half-time that deficit had more than doubled, South holding the Bloods to just 1.2 whilst kicking 5.2 for themselves. At the long break, the Panthers were out to a 44 point lead. By this time though, the Panthers must have used up the bulk of their energy, their second half would leave some cause for concern on the coaching panel. It was up to their defenders now to pick up their game as the Bloods set about trying to undo some of the damage. The third term was fought pretty evenly on the board, South adding a further point to their half-time advantage. They scored 3.2 to 3.1, the deficit now at 45 points come three quarter-time. The Panthers engine room was all but done in the final term, but try as they did the Bloods couldn't make up the already lost ground. The Bloods outscored South 4.2 to one behind, reducing the final margin to 20 points. Tom Highmore was voted South's best with his 23 disposals and four contested grabs, Kaine Stevens was named best for the Bloods with his 25 disposals.

The last of the Saturday afternoon matches takes us up to the other extreme end of the Adelaide metro, to the X-Convenience Oval in Elizabeth for the Northern Derby between the Bulldogs and the Roosters. Last season's northern suburbs rumbles saw a share of the points over their two games in 2019, on both occasions it was the visitors that came out on top. The Bulldogs took out the Round 4 match by seven points at Prospect, denying the Roosters an early season chance at eliminating their arrears of premiership points at the time. North got their revenge later in the year though, posting a 28-point win at the Ponderosa in Round 12. Both sides copped losses last weekend, the Roosters going down to the Eagles by 15 points at Menzies Crescent, while the Bulldogs' late rally was not enough against the Redlegs at Coopers Stadium. Centrals' on-and-off form has had their fans scratching their heads lately as to how they fall behind so easily yet play one or two good quarters to fall short in the end. North's opening term was one of their more forgettable starts for the year, kicking just 1.1 as the Dogs got off to one of their better starts with their 3.4 to lead by 15 points at the first change. But soon the North machine stirred to life as many had expected, bringing the Bulldogs back to just two straight kicks come half-time. The Roosters outscored the Dogs 4.1 to 3.2, at the long break the home side were up by 10 points. The Jekyll and Hyde football that plagued the Dogs last season was well and truly on display and North were wide awake. It wasn't long after the restart that the Roosters took over the lead, holding the Bulldogs to just 1.1 and adding 5.3 for themselves to be ahead by 16 points at the final change. The momentum was with the Roosters, only a pair of late goals by the Dogs stopped it from being a total blowout. North would leave with a five-goal win, finishing off with a 4.3 to 2.1 final term. Mitch Harvey was the difference maker for North, he kicked four goals with three of them in the third term. He was named their best, while James Boyd racked up 38 possessions to be named Centrals' best.

The last match for the weekend took place on the Sunday afternoon, the Peter Motley Oval in Unley hosting the battle of the affluent suburbs of south and east, the Blues taking on the Redlegs. These sides clashed on three occasions last year and the Blues just couldn't put one over their old rivals. In a hat-trick of early season escape wins, the Redlegs brought down a heavily-inaccurate Blues side by five points at The Parade in Round 4. In the return match at Unley in Round 16, horrid kicking on goal again haunted the Blues as they got smashed by almost 10 goals, butchering 14 of 20 scoring shots. But the final insult was in the cut-throat Elimination Final, the 'Legs outlasting the fast-finishing Blues with a 14-point win. The Redlegs' only blemish last week was letting in seven goals in the final term against the Bulldogs, but still emerged with a three-goal win while the Blues lost by 23 points to the Panthers. You'd swear some of that dominance the Redlegs exhibited last week had vanished suddenly, going by the opening term here. The Blues kicked 7.2 to 3.2 to take a four-goal lead at quarter-time. But as quickly as Sturt raced into the lead, they took the foot off the pedal in the second term as the Redlegs started reeling them back. The Blues' accuracy went astray as they kicked 1.4 to the 'Legs 3.3, Sturt's lead whittled down to 13 points by the long break. The return of several front-line players from injury no doubt made quite the impact for Norwood as they continued their chase. They restricted the Blues to just three behinds in a third quarter giving flashbacks of their silent period against South last week, a further 3.3 by the visitors to their own tally saw them overtake the home side by five points by the final change. This would be yet another week to forget for the Sturt faithful, there would be no last ditch comeback. Norwood finished off with a 4.2 to 2.4 final quarter to take a 15-point win. The towering Sam Baulderstone was named a force in ruck with 61 hitouts and got best afield honours for the Redlegs, while James Battersby was again at the forefront for Sturt as their best on ground.

FINAL SCORES IN ROUND 5 OF THE SANFL...

Saturday July 25

Woodville-West Torrens 16.7 (103)
Glenelg 12.11 (83)
831 @ ACH Group Stadium, Glenelg

South Adelaide 12.7 (79)
West Adelaide 9.5 (59)
946 @ Flinders Uni Stadium, Noarlunga

North Adelaide 14.8 (92)
Central District 9.8 (62)
941 @ X-Convenience Oval, Elizabeth

Sunday July 26
Norwood 13.10 (88)
Sturt 10.13 (73)
1,825 @ Peter Motley Oval, Unley


INJURIES
Glenelg -- Merrett (ankle)
West -- Ryan (shoulder)

REPORTS
None known at time of post.


LEAGUE LADDER
---------------------------------------
W-WT -- 8pts (4-1-0), 60.1%
South -- 8pts (4-1-0), 56.3%
North -- 8pts (4-1-0), 53.5%
Glenelg -- 4pts (2-3-0), 48%

---------------------------------------
Norwood -- 4pts (2-3-0), 47.5%
Sturt -- 4pts (2-3-0), 44.9%
West -- 3pts (1-3-1), 47.2%
Central -- 1pt (0-4-1), 42.5%
---------------------------------------

Next weekend in Round 6...

Saturday August 1 @ 2:10pm
Woodville-West Torrens vs. Central District; Maughan Thiem Kia Oval, Woodville
West Adelaide vs. Norwood; Hisense Stadium, Richmond
North Adelaide vs. South Adelaide; Prospect Oval

Sunday August 2 @ 2:10pm
Glenelg vs. Sturt; ACH Group Stadium, Glenelg

So until next weekend... see you at the Footy!
 

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