Round 9 Hostplus SANFL Snapshot – Monday

One man stood in the way of Sturt stealing a win from arch-rvial Norwood – Aaron Francis.

The Redlegs’ star recruit has certainly proved his worth in his Hostplus SANFL League return this year and his performance in the King’s Birthday Holiday blockbuster was certainly no exception.

In front of a bumper crowd of 6252 at a packed Thomas Farms Oval, the 28-year-old left his imprint at both ends of the ground in Norwood’s thrilling three-point win.

Swung forward after half-time to provide a spark for the visitors, the former Sydney Swan combined nicely inside 50m with Jackson Callow to kick two vital goals in the fourth term as the Double Blues surged.

While Callow booted three of his four goals in the fourth stanza to prove a handful for the hosts, Francis left his most important play until the last 20 seconds of the match.

Sensing the danger as Sturt desperately attempted to find a match-winning major, Francis stormed back into the defence to fist the Sherrin through the goals as Double Blue Marty Frederick appeared to conjure some magic with a sensational shot on goal from long range.

The final siren sounded just after the ball was brought back into play, ensuring the Redlegs would claim their seventh win in succession whilst sitting on top of the Hostplus SANFL League ladder.

It was a gutsy result for the Legs given they played most of the second half with sidelined skipper Jacob Kennerley and Baynen Lowe limped from the field in the final term.

Francis finished with 21 disposals, seven marks, two goals and his match-saving spoil while Nik Rokahr battled through the pain to collect a match-high 28 disposals, six clearances and seven tackles.

Small forward Alex Swinnerton was lively for Norwood with two goals from 18 disposals while ruck Finn Heard and rebounding defenders Cooper Murley and Matt Ling had a positive influence with 17 disposals each.

Veteran Redlegs Declan Hamilton celebrated his 150th game with a goal in the opening term while Jayden Gale kicked a pair for Norwood.

Sturt did well to claw its way back into the contest after conceding the opening three goals of the game before bigman Lachie Burrows gave the hosts a pulse with three goals in the second quarter.

But with Magarey Medallists Tom Lewis, restricted by sore spots, and Will Snelling, blanketed by Redleg Ben Simpson, unable to have their usual impact, things were always going to be tough for the Blues.

Marty Frederick racked up a team-high 25 disposals and seven clearances for Sturt while Lewis still ended up with 21 touches, seven clearances and nine tackles.

Sturt forward Sam Conforti and Oliver Grivell kicked two goals each but it wasn’t enough to prevent their side from falling to a 5-4 win-loss record in fourth spot on the table.