Round 14 Hostplus SANFL Snapshot – Saturday

Sturt’s sensational run stretched to 14 consecutive wins when it swept aside fellow finals five contender Central District by 51 points at Thomas Farms Oval. 

Central kicked the first goal of the game thanks to Wilson Barry after 22 seconds but that would be the only stage the visitors looked in control as the premiership favourite was quick to wrestle back momentum.

The Double Blues went on to boot seven of the next eight goals to suddenly open up a 32-point advantage deep into time-on of the first quarter.

From there, Marty Mattner’s charges were barely troubled by the Bulldogs as the opened up a match-winning lead of 45 points by half-time.

Sturt star Tom Lewis continued his great form with a match-high 27 disposals to add to his 11 clearances and five tackles while Casey Voss collected 24 disposals and 11 marks as Flynn Perez had 23 disposals and nine marks to provide drive off half-back.

Double Blues ruck Amos Doyle put in a monster performance with 21 disposals, six clearances, 34 hit outs and a goal while Tom Emmett’s only issue was accuracy with three behinds as as racked up 21 disposals and six marks.

Connor McFadyen slammed through five goals for the hosts while Josh Hone booted four and Ollie Grivell two.

Central’s Kade Dittmar led his team with 19 disposals and a goal while Luca Whitelum had 17 and Leyton Chisholm 16.

Bulldogs utility Beaut Thomas kicked four goals to go with 14 disposals and six marks while Aiden Grace kicked two majors.

A blistering nine-goal second term provided Adelaide with a springboard for its comfortable 61-point victory against West Adelaide at Hisense Stadium. 

Taking honours in the annual Neil Kerley Memorial match, the Crows faced a stern challenge from the Bloods early as the hosts led by seven points at the first change.

The Bloods then slammed on the first three goals of the second stanza to stretch their advantage to as much as 22 points when Charlie Haysman kicked truly in the ninth minute.

But a classy finish on the run from rising Crows star Sid Draper seemed to spark his side into action as it kicked the next 13 goals in succession to open up a commanding 59 point lead by the 23rd minute of the third quarter.

Draper enjoyed his best SANFL outing of the past month with 28 disposals, six marks and three clearances to go with his goal while veteran Brodie Smith collected a team-high 30 disposals and 11 marks.

Lachlan Murphy had 29 disposals for the Crows while Matt Crouch made an encouraging return from a hip complaint with 27 disposals, 10 clearances and a goal.

Strong-leading Crow Chris Burgess booted four goals to match ruck-turned-forward Kieran Strachan while as many as five Crows kicked a pair of majors.

Westies, without last year’s two best-and-fairest winners in Kobe Ryan and Sam Frost, had Tom Morrish step up in their absence with a match-high 32 disposals and eight marks.

Skipper Isaac Johnson had his best performance of the season with 28 possessions, six marks, six clearances and three goals for the Bloods while emerging duo Jesse Thackeray (25 disposals, seven clearances) and Lachlan Squire (24 disposals) also battled hard.

Tall West forward Tom Scully joined Johnson in booting three goals while Michael Laudato booted two.

Glenelg may have been far from its best but it found a way to defeat a vastly-improved South Adelaide by 14 points at Stratarama Stadium. 

The plucky Panthers led by as much as 23 points when mature-age goalsneak Tom Barrett booted his fourth goal deep into time-on of the third quarter.

But the reigning dual premier produced its best footy when it mattered most by kicking the next four goals in succession to suddenly hit the lead inside the opening four minutes of the fourth term.

The lead changed five times in the last quarter, with South co-captain Sam Skinner putting his side in front by four points with a show of strength goal midway through the term.

Tigers captain Liam McBean put his side back in front with a cool 45m set shot from a free kick before his forward sidekick Lachie Hosie booted the final two goals of the game during time-on.

Hosie finished with six goals from 12 kicks and seven marks while McBean booted five straight majors and Luke Reynolds four goals from 15 disposals and nine marks to give South’s defence plenty of headaches.

Glenelg pair Matt Allen and Luke Partington each racked up 27 disposals while Jarryd Lyons had 23 disposals and 10 marks.

Former Bays skipper Max Proud was outstanding in defence with 21 disposals and 16 marks as James Bell had 21 disposals and six tackles.

South’s Elliot Dunkin used the ball well with 21 possessions while Ollie Davis worked hard for 24 disposals and eight clearances.

But the Panthers’ star was ruck Olivier Northam with 19 disposals, seven clearances, 28 hit outs, six inside 50s and a goal.

Skinner and Barrett kicked four goals each while Corey Grocock, a late inclusion for Bailey Pilmore, kicked two goals for the visitors.

Norwood’s march toward a berth in the top five gained serious momentum when it obliterated injury-hit Woodville-West Torrens by 131 points at The Parade. 

Needing a win against the fifth-placed Eagles to stay in the race for the finals, the Redlegs also gained plenty of percentage as they drew within one win of their Round 14 rivals.

Piling on a massive score of 24.14 (158), Jade Sheedy’s outfit was unable to break the record for its highest score against the Eagles, which was 31.13 (199) in Round 1 of 1995.

But Norwood did manage to restrict the Eagles’ to its lowest score against it, with its 3.9 (27) less than the 5.4 (34) it managed in Round 10 of 2009.

Even with star forward Jackson Callow sidelined due to his four-match suspension, the Legs’ attack made the most of the lop-sided 63-32 inside 50m count.

Key forwards Tristan Binder (6.2) and Finn Heard (5.0) had a field day while Baynen Lowe kicked four straight from his 21 disposals and five clearances.

Star Norwood midfielder Billy Cootee filled his stats sheet with 39 disposals, 12 marks, six clearances and two goals while Nik Rokahr (33 disposals) and Declan Hamilton (32 disposals, 10 marks) did as they pleased.

The Eagles – with a staggering 24 players on their injury list including Riley Knight and Jack Hayes – had James Rowe collect 21 disposals and captain Joey Sinor finished with 20 and eight clearances.

Bigman Connor Ballenden booted the Eagles’ three goals from 11 disposals and six marks.