Round 18 SANFL Snapshot – Friday night

Norwood slogged its way to its eighth consecutive win when it held off Glenelg by eight points at The Parade.

It wasn’t pretty but the Redlegs ensured the majority of the 2954 in attendance went home happy after acting captain Jacob Kennerley put the icing on a fine personal performance with the match-winning goal.

Leading by just one point, Kennerley, in charge with skipper Matt Nunn sidelined by an ankle ailment, willingly accepted a handball before baulking around an opponent and finishing on the run from 25m.

The former Geelong midfielder, who led his side onto the ground through a guard of honour formed by Norwood fans, finished with 28 disposals, 10 clearances, 11 tackles and his sealing major.

Legs coach Jade Rawlings must be delighted with the ability of his side to now be on the right end of a string of close contests when this time last year, it was very much a work in progress.

The significance of this Round 18 victory cannot be understated as it all but seals the Legs a top three berth with West Adelaide to play in Round 19.

Conversely, the scratchy Tigers appear destined for an Elimination Final match up against either Sturt or Woodville-West Torrens.

The hosts had their noses in front for most of the evening as they laid a staggering 114 tackles as Harry Boyd dominated the ruck with a massive 56 hit outs, 21 more than Glenelg could manage as a team.

Arguably the best ruckman in the competition this season, Boyd finished with 18 disposals and nine clearances as he regularly followed up his own work at ground level.

As a result of his dominance, Tiger coach Brett Hand was forced to concede triple Ken Farmer Medallist Liam McBean from attack to nullify Boyd, with McBean toiling manfully for 21 disposals, eight marks (four contested), seven tackles and seven inside 50s.

Lesser-lights Josh Richards (22 disposals) and Nick Lowden (19 disposals) applied 10 tackles each for Norwood while Baynen Lowe was a continual threat in the slippery conditions inside 50m, finishing with 2.5 from his 16 disposals.

Tiger Magarey Medallist Luke Partington got better as the game wore on, tallying 31 disposals, 10 clearances and nine tackles while Darcy Bailey had 25 possessions and six tackles as he tried to construct play from defence.