Round 13 Hostplus SANFL Snapshot – Sunday

Glenelg positioned itself nicely for a top-three berth after a highly-valuable 12-point win against Woodville-West Torrens at Stratarama Stadium. 

Overcoming a goalless first quarter, the Tigers were able to slowly claw their way back into the contest to bank the premiership points against the fifth-placed Eagles.

A loss for the Bays would have seen the Eagles draw level on eight wins, instead the reigning premier slips into third place on the ladder with a 9-3 win-loss record, equal with second-placed Sturt and one win behind pacesetter Norwood.

Managing just one behind in the opening term as the visitors piled on four goals, Darren Reeves’ men found a way to grind out victory without any Tiger producing a standout performance.

Leading by a point at half-time, the hosts found themselves trailing by as much as 18 points 18 minutes into the third quarter before Cole Gerloff pulled a valuable goal back heading into the final change.

The Bays dominated territory in the final quarter, which showed on the scoreboard as they kicked 3.6 to the Eagles 0.2 to secure the win.

James Bell (19 disposals, eight tackles and five clearances) was a strong influence in the middle as Alex Martini (18 disposals) again did an admirable job of shadowing star Eagle James Rowe, who still managed 22 touches himself.

Matt Allen and Matt Snook collected 17 disposals each as Luke Reynolds booted three goals for the Bays as Liam McBean and Hugh Stagg contributed two each.

Former Crow Riley Knight racked up 26 disposals, eight clearances, 10 tackles and two goals for the Eagles while defender Josh Morris and captain Joseph Sinor joined Rowe with 22 touches.

Tall Eagles forward Connor Ballenden joined Knight in booting two majors, to be their team’s only multiple goal kickers.

Five successive goals in the third term propelled Port Adelaide to a 29-point win against an inconsistent North Adelaide at Prospect Oval.

Despite losing star Power forward Willie Rioli as a late withdrawal before the bounce, the Magpies displayed plenty of spirit in fending off multiple challenges from the Roosters.

Leading narrowly at quarter-time and half-time, the visitors were again facing a stern test when North drew within two points on the back of a behind to veteran Keenan Ramsey in the 12th minute of the third quarter.

But this appeared to spark Hamish Hartlett’s men into action as they piled on five majors in a row to open up a match-winning 31-point advantage by the final change.

From there, the Magpies held North at bay during the fourth quarter, retaining possession across the course of the afternoon with 30 more marks.

Port’s Dylan Williams hauled in 13 of his own marks to go with his 22 disposals while fellow defender Tom Clurey took 15 grabs with his 26 possessions.

Jed McEntee found plenty of the ball as he played further up the field than his AFL role to collect 24 disposals while Hugh Jackson (22 disposals) and Murphy Short (21 disposals) also had a strong presence in Port’s second win of the season.

Tom McCallum, Cody Szust and Xavier Walsh kicked two goals each for the Magpies.

Coming off an upset win against the Eagles last round, North was unable to conjure any fluency in its ball movement as Sam Ramsay (27 disposals, 10 marks) and Campbell Combe (25 disposals, 10 tackles) worked hard.

Mitch Harvey and Nigel Lockyer booted two goals each for the Roosters.

Norwood strengthened its hold as the Hostplus SANFL League’s pacesetter with an imposing 74-point win against West Adelaide at Hisense Stadium.

Now sitting on top of the premiership table with a 10-2 win-loss record and a strong percentage of 59.4, the Redlegs were barely troubled as they piled on 17 goals against the tiring Bloods.

Welcoming back Matt Ling (29 disposals, eight marks) from a three-match suspension, the visitors are still without star recruit Mitch O’Neill and crafty Henry Nelligan due to ankle ailments, and premiership veteran Matt Panos, in another ominous sign to its rivals.

Restricting West to just one goal in the first half, Jade Rawlings’ men showed off their potency as nine players joined the goal kicking list as Izaac Twelftree (four goals) and Baynen Lowe (three) did plenty of damage on the scoreboard.

Norwood had a whopping 40 more marks than Westies, while also recording 48 more kicks and 48 more handballs which resulted in 18 more inside 50 entries.

Twelftree enjoyed a breakout performance by collecting 21 disposals, seven marks and six tackles to go with his game-high four majors, while Brodie Carroll and Billy Cootee also registered 21 touches.

Legs forward Jackson Callow could have also been more damaging had he kicked straight (1.4) as he compiled 19 disposals and 12 marks.

Jack Oatey Medallist Harry Boyd was again tremendous in the ruck with 16 disposals, 11 clearances and 46 hit outs.

West’s Sam Frost continues to fight his heart out, leading from the front to gather 33 disposals, 11 clearances and six marks while Callum Park had 25 disposals and Kobe Ryan 19 possessions and a goal.

Sturt was made to sweat for its 21-point win against an improving South Adelaide at Thomas Farms Oval.

Determined to celebrate the 200th Hostplus SANFL League game of dual premiership defender Guy Page, the Double Blues trailed in the majority of all key stat categories, except the one which matters most – the scoreboard.

The Panthers led by a point at the final change when tall forward Damon Freitag kicked a behind from a close range set shot, heading into the three-quarter time with momentum after dominating the latter part of the third quarter.

Unfortunately for the visitors, that was their last score other than a rushed behind in the fourth term as Sturt booted 3.5 to secure its ninth win of the season and solidify second spot.

With Magarey Medal favourite Will Snelling a late withdrawal before the bounce, his midfield sidekicks Tom Lewis (29 disposals, 10 clearances) and James Battersby (22 disposals, seven clearances) shouldered the load for the hosts.

Casey Voss (24 disposals) and Zac Becker (19 possessions, seven marks) were other strong contributors for Sturt as Oliver Grivell booted four goals, Josh Hone three and James Richards two.

South coach Jarrad Wright will take heart from winning the disposal count, as well as total marks, and inside 50s as teenage sensation Sid Draper looked at home amongst men to tally 22 disposals and four clearances in his first League game for the season.

Kobe Mutch’s rich form continued with 27 disposals and six clearances for South while Callum McCarty and Oscar Clavarino had 19 disposals each.

Panther Hayden Sampson had 17 disposals in his 100th game after being a late withdrawal last round.

Adelaide secured back-to-back victories with a comfortable 36-point win against fourth-placed Central District at X Convenience Oval.

Coming off their best win for the season against Glenelg last round, the Crows used that momentum to lead the Dogs at every change as they built enough of a buffer to secure their fourth victory of the season.

Adelaide only managed three behinds in the fourth term but it didn’t matter as they put the clamps on the hosts to restrict them to just five goals for the afternoon.

Livewire Adelaide forward Ned McHenry returned to form with 22 disposals and two goals while poised defender Oscar Ryan collected 22 possessions.

Crows midfielder Harry Schoenberg ran hard to finish with 21 disposals and six clearances while Chayce Jones had 18 disposals and a goal in a rare SANFL appearance.

Adelaide forwards Lachlan Gollant and Riley Thilthorpe joined McHenry in booting two goals.

Central’s Harry Grant worked tirelessly for his game-high 27 disposals, eight clearances, nine tackles and a goal while Billy Iles and Jai Larkins each collected 24 disposals.

After starting the season strongly, the Dogs now have an 8-4 win-loss record and will be eager to solidify their spot in the top five with a win against West Adelaide in Round 14.