A GOAL in the final two minutes of the match to double bottom-ager Lily Baxter helped South Adelaide regain top spot on the ladder by defeating Glenelg by a point at Noarlunga on Sunday. The top of the table clash was befitting of the honour, with both sides unwilling to give the opposition an inch until South Adelaide came away with the 3.6 (24) to 3.5 (23) victory.

When Ella Boag kicked a major with four minutes to play to put Glenelg up by five points, it looked like the Bays would continue their four-game winning streak. But a brilliant passage of play out of the middle by Cheyenne Hammond to find Lucy Northcott at centre half-forward put the wheels in motion for the match-winning play. Rather than having a long-range shot, Northcott spotted the speedy Baxter leading out in the pocket and duly hit her on the chest.

Going back with the game on her boot, Baxter calmly slotted the goal and put the Panthers back in front. The match went right down to the wire, with Glenelg captain Ellie Kellock winning a holding the ball free kick in the dying seconds, and had to play on knowing she did not have the 60m trip in her, but a nest of South Adelaide defenders were able to spoil away the last kick of the game. The crowd erupted as the Panthers had sealed the win and moved back up to top spot with a 4-1 record.

South Adelaide and Glenelg showed that low scoring matches can be just as epic as shootouts, with both teams midfields and defences on-song. Just three goals were kicked after quarter time – and six for the match, with Boag’s major being the first for the Bays since the 14th minute of the opening term. The teams went toe-for-toe for the best part of 80 minutes and will be counting the cost from the clash.

South Adelaide’s Nicole Campbell ended the game on crutches after going down with a right knee injury, while Glenelg’s Sarah Goodwin only played a quarter and iced up her ankle for the rest of the game. It was a bruising encounter with the likes of Madisyn Freeman also going down just on the three quarter time siren, but returning to play for the fourth term.

There was nothing to split the teams all games, with single-digit differences in just about every statistic, as the visitors marginally won the hitouts (26-20), while South came away with the clearance advantage by one (23-20). The inside 50 count edged towards the Bays with 36-32, but the South defence was up to the task (32-29 rebound 50s).

In the absence of Goodwin, Adelaide’s Brooke Tonon slid to half-back on Lexia Edwards‘ whiteboard and went on to star in the the game, tacking up nine more disposals than anyone else on the ground (30) and also taking seven marks – two contested, two clearances, two inside 50s, nine rebound 50s and laying six tackles. Captain Ellie Kellock and young star Piper Window would have had plenty of sore spots after battling their way through a bruising midfield battle, combining for 42 disposals, 11 clearances, 12 tackles and nine inside 50s. Defender Tamsyn Morriss did a good job on dangerous forward, Jordann Hickey.

The winners had plenty of contributors too, with Taylah Levy returning to the side and notching up 19 disposals, five marks – one contested – three tackles, three clearances, two inside 50s and three rebound 50s, while top-age midfielder Brooke Boileau (18 disposals, six clearances and seven tackles) tried hard around the stoppages. Hammond and Northcott were both consistent all game, while Caitlin Couch and second-gamer Melissa Anderson also impressed.

South Adelaide will have a short turnaround between games, taking on Woodville-West Torrens on Thursday night to kick off the Easter weekend, while Glenelg has the extra day before a home match against Norwood.

SOUTH ADELAIDE 1.2 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 3.6 (24)
GLENELG 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 3.5 (23)

GOALS:

South: M. Anderson, J. Hickey, L. Baxter
Glenelg: C. Packer, M. Scholz, E. Boag

RMC BEST:

South: T. Levy, C. Hammond, B. Boileau, L. Northcott, C. Couch
Glenelg: B. Tonon, E. Boag, E. Kellock, P. Window, T. Morriss

AROUND THE GROUNDS

Central District’s hopes of an inaugural finals series continued with a hard-fought five-point win over North Adelaide on Saturday. While the Roosters looked good in the first quarter to race out to a 22-point lead and hold the Bulldogs scoreless, they would only kick one more goal for the rest of the game – a late one – the visitors would pile on seven consecutive goals to win, 7.1 (43) to 5.8 (38).

Central District debutant, Port Adelaide inside midfielder Maria Moloney racked up 23 disposals, three marks, three tackles, seven clearances and two rebound 50s. She was a vital inclusion to assist the other prominent midfielders in Caitlin Wendland and Shelby Smith who combined for 37 disposals and nine clearances, while the likes of Laitiah Huynh and Madison Lane also impressed. Up forward, Julia Teakle and Jasmine Evans both booted three goals apiece.

For North Adelaide, co-skipper Jessica Edwards racked up a game-high 29 disposals, as well as five marks, eight tackles, three clearances and two inside 50s in the loss. Former Bulldog Isabelle Starmer also stepped up, as she had 17 disposals, three marks – one contested – 14 tackles, 22 hitouts, seven clearances and two inside 50s. Up forward, Cristie Castle and Laela Ebert both converted two majors.

Sturt’s win-loss pattern of no more than one of each at a time continued into Round 6, as they easily accounted for a disappointing Woodville-West Torrens. Fresh off their first win of the season, the Eagles were unable to withstand the Sturt pressure after quarter time, kicking six behinds to Sturt’s 9.4. The Double Blues would have been frustrated with 1.8 (14) to 1.0 (6) in the opening term, but straightened up after that and finished with a 10.12 (72) to 1.6 (12) victory.

Young guns Monique Bessen and India Rasheed were sensational in the win, both picking up 22 disposals and kicking a goal, while sharing in 11 marks, nine clearances and five inside 50s. Fellow midfielder Isobel Kuiper had a game-high 24 disposals in the win with four marks, five clearances and five tackles, while Georgia Swan moved back to her familiar role up forward after a stint in defence this season, and booted 3.2 from 19 disposals, six marks and four inside 50s. Inclusions, Kiera Mueller and Jasmyn Hewett were also superb.

The youth of the Eagles were the shining lights, with Marlie Fiegert and Shineah Goody finding their fair share of the ball with 20 and 19 touches each, while the AFLW-experience also tried hard. Leah Cutting (17 disposals, 24 hitouts and four clearances), Beatrice Devlyn (17 disposals, eight rebound 50s) and Abbey Dowrick (17 disposals, seven clearances, seven tackles and five inside 50s) were strong all day despite the loss.

Rounding out the weekend’s action was a six-point victory in favour of Norwood to stretch the Redlegs’ winning streak to three, while handing West Adelaide its fourth straight loss. In a tight contest all match, the Redlegs just kept the home side at bay, and while the Bloods did have some late chances in the match and held the visitors scoreless for the last 30 minutes, could not put one through the big sticks and Norwood secured the 5.3 (33) to 3.9 (27) win.

It would have been frustrating for the Bloods who despite losing the hitouts (36-21) dominated both the clearances (28-19) and inside 50s (38-19) but could not put the scoreboard pressure on. Furthermore, the home side took 36 more marks (77-41) and had 20 more disposals (255-235) in numbers that 99 per cent of the time will win you the four points.

Morgan Johnston worked hard to rack up a team-high 22 disposals and six marks for the winners while also laying four tackles. AFLW players Jade Halfpenny (17 disposals, two marks) and Hannah Dunn (16 disposals, eight rebound 50s) were both impressive up respective ends, as Sarah Branford and Charlie Hazelhurst won the most clearances in a rotating midfield group.

The midfield was dominant for West Adelaide, as five players had four-plus clearances or inside 50s, with Zoe Venning having a career-best game in her 51st match, collecting 32 disposals, eight marks, three tackles, three clearances and six inside 50s. Also prominent were Keeley Kustermann (27 disposals, five marks, five tackles, six clearances, five inside 50s and four rebound 50s. Iilish Ross (18 disposals, seven marks, eight tackles, four clearances and six inside 50s), Lauren Young and Bec Hansen were also prominent.