Round 3 Hostplus SANFL Snapshot – Saturday

North Adelaide produced the goods when it had its back to the wall after holding on for a thrilling six-point win against Sturt at Prospect Oval.

Desperately in need of a response after succumbing to the Eagles by 92 points in Round 2, the Roosters found something when it mattered most as crumbing forward Lachlan Grubb put his side in front deep into the final term.

With scores tied, Grubb pounced on the ball approaching the 27th minute before snapping from close range to send the Prospect faithful into raptures in the grandstand.

But the Double Blues weren’t finished yet as they moved the ball cleanly from their back half through the corridor via Rory Illman and Flynn Perez, who hit teammate Josh Hone on the lead.

As Hone was lining up his set shot from just inside the 50m arc the final siren sounded, causing a huge pack of players to form on the goalline.

A wall of red and white managed to spoil the ball back into play as Hone’s shot fell short, handing the hosts their first win of the 2024 Hostplus SANFL League season.

North’s Magarey Medallist Campbell Combe was tireless through the midfield with 26 disposals, seven clearances and four tackles while Harrison Wigg picked up 24 touches.

Harrison Magor returned from injury to have a positive influence with 21 disposals while premiership bigman Mitch Harvey left his imprint on the contest with four goals while Nigel Lockyer booted three.

Sturt’s Jared Dakin racked up 28 touches while fellow midfielder Will Snelling had 26 disposals, five clearances and a goal.

Captain James Battersby collected 23 disposals and seven clearances for the Blues while Ned Walter showed promise in defence with 23 disposals as North Melbourne recruit Flynn Perez displayed polish and dash to 22 disposals and 11 marks.

Sturt swingman Connor McFadyen was his team’s only multiple goal kicker with two critical snaps in the final quarter.

Glenelg burst out of the blocks before cruising to a comfortable 38-point win against Adelaide at Stratarama Stadium.

Booting the opening seven goals of the game while holding the Crows to just two behinds in the opening term, the Tigers pushed their advantage out to as much as 77 points early in the fourth term.

But the Crows – who didn’t boot their first until Chris Burgess saluted in the sixth minute of the second stanza – put some respectability back into the scoreboard by kicking the final six majors of the contest.

Bays captain Liam McBean made a welcome return to the team to kick a damaging 5.3 from 12 disposals and six marks while fellow Ken Farmer Medallist Lachie Hosie (four goals) and Luke Reynolds (three goals) also hit the scoreboard.

Tiger midfielders James Bell (22 disposals, one goal), Corey Lyons (24 disposals, seven clearances) and Billy Stretch (22 disposals) all lifted their output on Round 2 significantly as Jonty Scharenberg led the stats sheet with 26 possessions.

Adelaide’s promising midfielder Billy Dowling continues to push his claims for an AFL debut after collecting 26 disposals, eight clearances and a goal while Luke Pedlar (20 disposals, one goal) and Zac Taylor (20 disposals, nine clearances) had their moments.

Crow Harry Schoenberg made his comeback from an Achilles injury last year to finish with 19 disposals.

Central District claimed its first win at Flinders University Stadium in close to a decade after fending off a plucky South Adelaide by 26 points.

Without a victory at Noarlunga since Round 19 of 2015, the Bulldogs broke their eight-game losing streak at Lovelock Drive by eventually wearing down the youthful hosts.

After seemingly being headed for a light day at the office after banging on 4.2 (26) without the Panthers scoring inside the opening 10 minutes, the visitors methodically made the made the most of their 45-39 inside 50m advantage.

Leading by two goals at the final change, Paul Thomas’ charges – who now with a 3-0 win-loss record – kept South to just one major in the last quarter before kicking the final three of the contest to sew up victory.

Magarey Medallist Harry Grant found plenty of the footy with 26 disposals and seven clearances but it was Fos Williams Medallist Jez McLennan who was outstanding with 25 possessions and six marks across half-back.

The former Gold Coast Sun continues to impress this season as a valued member of the Bulldogs’ leadership group while Eagles recruit Kai Pudney and Central captain Jarrod Schiller each tallied 21 touches.

Port Melbourne recruit Jake Gasper finished with five goals for the Dogs after booting three of the first four goals of the game while Aiden Grace and Nick Lange kicked two each.

South’s inform midfielder Hayden Sampson thrived in the conditions to collect 26 disposals and six clearances while former Essendon VFL player Callum McCarty impressed with 23 and four clearances in his Hostplus SANFL League debut.

Powerful Panthers forward Liam Fitt kicked four goals from his 12 disposals including an eye-catching run in the first term which included three bounces to the northern end as Damon Freitag kicked three.

Norwood edged out West Adelaide by 13 points in a dour affair at the Centenary Oval in Port Lincoln.

In a match which produced just 11 goals between both sides, the Redlegs’ 6.14 (50) proved to be enough after holding the Bloods to just two behinds in the final quarter.

The lack of scoring was partly explained by the extraordinary tackle counts as Norwood applied an incredible 137 as a team to the Bloods’ more than respectable total of 83.

Star Norwood signing Mitch O’Neill continued his hot form at his new club with 30 disposals, 10 tackles and 10 clearances while only inaccuracy dented another fine display from Billy Cootee, who had 17 possessions and 12 tackles.

Norwood’s Jordon Boyle finished with 16 disposals in confronting his former teammates for the first time while Jack Oatey Medallist Harry Boyd had 15 disposals, nine clearances and a massive 54 hit outs for the hosts.

Jackson Callow (Norwood) and Ned Stevens (West) were the only two players on the ground to kick more than one major with two each.

West’s Kobe Ryan – who claimed the Russell Ebert Medal last round – had 22 disposals, nine clearances and 12 tackles in a gallant effort while Lucas Meline racked up 27 possessions (23 kicks) from the back half for the Bloods.