WOODVILLE-West Torrens has hung on to defeat Central District by three points in a nailbiting end their SANFL Under 18s Grand Final rematch on Sunday. The Eagles led at every break and took a 23-point buffer into three-quarter time, but were very nearly overrun by the rampant Bulldogs.

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The away side kicked the opening goal of term four at X Convenience Oval to extend the margin to 29 points. That sparked Centrals into action, as they piled on five of the game’s last six majors to end up within a kick of victory within the last 90 seconds. Ultimately, they could not avenge last year’s decider.

Eagles captain Jevan Phillipou (25 disposals, six clearances, one goal) continues to stuff the stats sheet. His partner in crime Jack Cook (22 disposals, 10 tackles) also got stuck in for the victors, while Dougal Ashby was recognised as best afield by the Woodville-West Torrens staff after a strong showing.

A trio of Centrals’ of state academy members came away as multiple goalkickers, with bottom-ager Douglas Cochrane (three goals) leading the way for Joshua Reichelt and Aidan Schubert (both two). Skipper Matthew LeRay (28 disposals, eight clearances) also had his best game of the season to date.

The reigning premiers now move to a 2-1 record and sit third among the four sides with identical ledgers. Meanwhile, Centrals have fallen to the foot of the ladder after three rounds, recording the lowest percentage of the four 1-2 teams. The Bulldogs’ sole win came by one point against Sturt last week.

Over in Port Pirie, North Adelaide opened the round by handing Norwood its first loss of the 2025 campaign. The Roosters kicked away with six goals to one in term three to set up the 21-point victory, backing up their breakthrough win over South Adelaide in Round 2. 

Charlie Dickeson led all comers with 28 disposals for the victors. Sam Cumming (21 disposals, two goals) and Port Adelaide father-son prospect Ben Francou (21 and one) were also prominent along with ruck Ethan Herbert (26 hitouts, six clearances. Lachlan Faulkhead led the scoring with 3.3.

Norwood captain and reigning best and fairest Darcy Speyer was the only Redleg to peel off over 20 touches, also posting five clearances, seven inside 50s and a goal. Harvey Pearce (12 disposals, six tackles, one goal) was put forward as the Redlegs’ best in the loss.

Saturday’s other fixture saw Sturt bounce back from last week’s one-point loss to Centrals, defeating Glenelg by 49 points at The Summit in Mount Barker. The Double Blues kicked home strongly with five unanswered goals in the final quarter to seal a second win for the season and snatch top spot.

It was no surprise to see Kale Matthew-Hampton (27 disposals, nine marks) and Jett Dahlitz (26 and eight) fill their boots. Meanwhile, midfielders Noah Roberts-Thomson (26 disposals) and Louis Kellaway (23) were industrious as ever. It all led to Oscar Finnis and Ben McArthur booting four goals apiece.

Glenelg over-ager Thomas McKay showed his experience to rack up 23 touches and 10 rebound 50s. The reliable Tim Alver had it 21 times, while Luke Candy managed 18 disposals and bottom-age livewire Gabriel Patterson snared three goals in the loss – the Bays’ second in a row.

Rounding out the weekend’s proceedings on Sunday, South Adelaide registered its opening win of the season. The Panthers overcame an inaccurate 4.10 first half to end up with 12.12 and run out 35-point victors over West Adelaide at Magain Stadium.

Hard-running small Jesse Nye (24 disposals, one goal) was again integral for the Panthers, while Cain Florance booted a pair of goals from his 23 touches. Patrick Carman did most of the damage though, bagging four majors as one of South’s six goalkickers. Benjamin Dittmar managed three.

Mitchell Marsh was Westies’ spearhead once again, slotting three goals to take his season tally to a league-high nine. Jaylen Sochacki, meanwhile, finished with a team-high 22 disposals to be named the Bloods’ best ahead of Gus Downs and Logan McCabe.

ROUND 3 RESULTS

North Adelaide 11.16 (82) def. Norwood 9.7 (61)
Sturt 14.16 (100) def. Glenelg 8.3 (51)
Central District 10.10 (70) def. by Woodville-West Torrens 11.7 (73)
South Adelaide 12.12 (84) def. West Adelaide 7.7 (49)

SANFL U18s LADDER

1. Sturt | 2-1, 56.4%
2. Norwood | 2-1, 51.5%
3. Woodville-West Torrens | 2-1, 51.4%
4. North Adelaide | 2-1, 51.0%
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5. South Adelaide | 1-2, 49.3%
6. West Adelaide | 1-2, 48.2%
7. Glenelg | 1-2, 47.7%
8. Central District | 1-2, 44.6%

ROUND 4 FIXTURE

Saturday April 5:

West Adelaide vs. Sturt
12:00pm @ Hisense Stadium

Central District vs. South Adelaide
2:40pm @ X Convenience Oval

Sunday April 6:

Glenelg vs. North Adelaide
12:00pm @ Stratarama Stadium

Woodville-West Torrens vs. Norwood
2:40pm @ Maughan Thiem Kia Oval