League Match Report

Our final home game of the season was one full of excitement for our playing group as we prepared to take on second-placed Sturt FC in front of our home crowd.

We knew what Sturt were going to bring and that was consistency; consistency in effort in and around the contest, consistency on Offence and consistency on Defence. They showed us what it takes to be one of the top sides in this competition, a great learning opportunity for our group.

We started the game well; our contested numbers were in the positive and we were moving the ball into our front half quite well. A Josh Gore chase-down tackle at the top of our goal square resulting in the games first goal. A costly turnover a few minutes later in our defensive end saw Sturt kick their first of the game and gain a little bit of momentum leading into the second quarter.

Sturt’s intensity in and around the contest lifted at the start of the second term as the game was seemingly played in their front half for the first fifteen minutes of the quarter, 8 inside-50s to one. However, we were able to swing the momentum back in our favour for the remainder of the quarter off the back of an increase in intensity across all three zones which resulted in inspiring goals from Dylan Bramich and Josh Gore. We went into the main break down by 7 points.

Our third term from a KPI perspective was encouraging. We spent 25% of the quarter in our F50 compared to Sturt’s 15%. We won contested possession and ground balls for the term. We generated 16 inside-50s to 9. But it was the difference in terms of efficiency and connection that separated the two sides on the scoreboard as Sturt kicked 5.1 to our 1.4.

The last quarter was a disappointing way to finish the game. We dropped away in the contest, became unaccountable at stoppage, and made some poor decisions with ball in hand whilst trying to force the play. The game was played heavily in Sturt’s front half for much of the final term as they piled on another 4 majors.

I liked the games from Cooper Patterson and Jordan White in defence and thought Hamish Ellem had some good moments playing a new role. Sam Frost and Kobe Ryan worked hard through the Midfield, Darcy Minchella showed promise playing in a secondary Ruck role and Josh Gore had some nice moments for us inside F50.

We head out to North Adelaide this weekend to round out our season. Our expectations don’t change as we look to finish our season on a positive note.

Goals: J. Gore (2), D. Bramich, N. Stevens (1)

Best: Sam Frost, Josh Gore, Jordan White

League Coach – Adam Hartlett