Round 9 Hostplus SANFL Snapshot – Monday

By STEVE BARRETT

Sheer weight of numbers, capped by a fourth-quarter defensive shutout, saw Sturt turn a protracted arm wrestle into a 28-point win over Norwood at Thomas Farms Oval.

Scores were squared in the dour, low-scoring graft between the competition’s two most miserly brickwalls at the nine-minute mark of the fourth term before the Double Blues finally broke the deadlock when Sam Conforti goaled twice in a minute – a flying shot on the back of a Redlegs turnover, followed by a clever dodge and successful snap.

Conforti almost made it three in a row and four for the match when he narrowly missed a miraculous boundary-hugging bomb, before further majors to Aaron Anderson and Lachlan Burrows bolstered the final margin, icing a commanding 4.5-to-nil quarter which saw Sturt jump into third position on the ladder.

Casey Voss piloted a strong Blues backline, while gun on-ball trio Will Snelling (27 disposals, eight tackles, five clearances), James Battersby (21, seven, seven) and Tom Lewis (20, 13, five) expertly nullified Harry Boyd’s ruck superiority.

Buoyed by a bumper, parochial public holiday crowd, Sturt edged in front on Jared Dakin’s goal after the quarter-time siren before dominating the second term everywhere except the scoreboard against Norwood’s under-siege but typically resolute defence, which limited the damage to just an eight-point deficit at the main interval.

Jackson Callow’s third major early in the third put the Legs in front but the visitors were held goalless from that moment, their one-point three-quarter-time lead insufficient with Sturt having the advantage of the stiff northerly in the fourth term.

The Double Blues emphatically controlled inside-50s 46-20 over the last three quarters, while easily winning the clearances 24-13 after half-time.

Norwood lost Baynen Lowe and Henry Nelligan to ankle injuries in the second half, during which Sturt slowly but surely seized the upper hand.

Glenelg leapt to the top of the Hostplus SANFL League ladder after recovering from a slow start to beat North Adelaide by 12 points on the King’s Birthday holiday.

In a seesawing contest in front of a crowd of over 4,100, during which scoring heavily favoured the wind-assisted primary school end, the Tigers conceded four of the first five goals before establishing control with a strong second term.

The Roosters fought back to lock the game away at three-quarter-time before the Bays, aided by the breeze, had the better of the fourth term, sealing their fifth successive victory and placing their premiership defence into overdrive.

Matthew Allen’s 22 disposals included two fourth-quarter majors, while Matthew Snook (20 disposals, nine tackles, six clearances) willed his way into the match after a quiet start.

Harrison Wigg (31 disposals), Harrison Magor (27 touches) and captain Alex Spina (24 possessions, 14 rebound-50s, 11 marks) were prolific for North, while Nigel Lockyer booted three six-pointers, including a magnificent 70m bomb in the shadows of three-quarter-time.

Mitch Harvey and Lockyer, who ranked first and second on the Ken Farmer Medal leaderboard, booted two first-quarter goals apiece as the Roosters rode a 12-6 edge in clearances to a 21-point cushion at the first break.

Big-hearted Riley Holder spearheaded Glenelg’s second-quarter revival from the centre-square, the Tigers flipping the script in clearances (15-6) while also winning inside-50s (16-8) for the term.

After Liam McBean goaled from outside 50m, Billy Stretch’s superb finish from range gave Glenelg its first lead before Reid Kuller pounced on a North turnover to help extend the Bays’ buffer to nine points at half-time.

Back-to-back Sam McInerney majors put the Roosters back in front before the Tigers recaptured the lead through Hugh Stagg’s roving snap and James Bell’s fine mark and finish.

Lockyer’s stunning missile from almost halfway levelled the scores with a quarter to play.

McBean booted his second with a fine loose ball pick-up and snap before Allen’s two strikes, complemented by a double-fisted celebration towards the Snout’s Louts, ended North’s plucky resistance.