SANFLW Match Report

MATCH REPORT

West Adelaide 5. 3 (33) defeated by North Adelaide 8.5 (53)

Our midfield for this game had been depleted with the unavailability of Emma Smith and Bridie Stouppos. This gave us the opportunity to blood another 15yo debutant in Taylah Jayne to bring the total number of three 15yo debutants this year.

We had identified pre game the opportunity to start well was imperative if we were to win the game. Unfortunately we started poorly and were 4 goals behind within the first 8 minutes of the game. We settled part way through the quarter to kick 2 goals of our own, to reduce the deficit to 11 points at quarter time.

At quarter time we sought everyone to remain composed and focus on stabilising the momentum of the game to give ourselves every opportunity in the second half. Unfortunately during the quarter we lost another midfielder and one of our leading possession winners Bec Owen to a foot injury. This added to losing Alex Mason early in the first quarter, further depleting our midfield stocks. By half time we had fallen behind by 23 points and were disappointed in our efforts, slow ball movement and poor work rate.

At half time the players gathered and committed to improving their intensity and pressure around the ball. This led to a significantly improved 3rd quarter. With the intensity increasing North began to fumble under tackle and perceived pressure. We fought our way back into the game kicking 3 unanswered goals.

Unfortunately with a lack of rotations on the bench we fatigued in the last quarter to go down by 20 points.

Despite a better performance in the second half our first quarters are becoming a problem and need to be addressed immediately if we are to return to our best form. We cannot be giving teams a start and play catch up footy week after week. We have also identified that we need more players sharing the load and these two factors will be impressed upon the playing group at training this week.

Goal kickers: M. Elsegood, A. Mason, M. Rich, M. Smith, A. Ballard

Best Players: N. Davis, A. Ballard, E. Hingston, T. Hoffmann, M. Elsegood, Z. Venning