Australian Football

Match Report

First up it's the Elimination Final, with the Double Blues facing the Redlegs in a battle of the affluent inner suburbs. The Redlegs have seen their fair share of the SANFL's last chance saloon, having played 18 games and winning 12 of them. They could be considered the specialists of the eliminator, but their last couple of appearances have seen them turfed from contention at the hands of the Bulldogs in 2015 and 2017 by a combined total of 94 points. The Blues' entries into this phase of the finals are far less successful, with only one victory from eight games. Ironically that one win was at the expense of the Redlegs back in 2000 when they hammered them by 65 points. In regards to overall records in Elimination Finals, the record score was set by the Tigers in 1987 when they smashed Woodville by 17 goals with a score of 24.22 (166). Ultimate success has only been achieved on 13 occasions, but only two of those premierships were won by the team in fifth spot. After going 34 years alone having achieved that feat, the Redlegs of 1984 were joined by the Roosters of 2018, who won their eighth Elimination Final from 10 appearances at the expense of South Adelaide on their way to the flag.

The Redlegs won both matches during the minor round, starting with a five-point win at The Parade in Round 3 where both sides had much difficulty finding the big sticks. A combined 41 scoring shots with 14 goals between them. Only the Redlegs accuracy would have improved come Round 16 at Unley, Norwood brushing the horribly inaccurate Blues aside with a 59-point win. The Redlegs started off with some wayward goal-kicking this time around, they would go into the first change with a four-point lead after kicking 2.4 to Sturt's two goals. Norwood looked to break the game open in the first half of the second term, kicking toward a 35-point lead with their 5.2 to one behind. But the Blues recovered late in the term with their 3.3 to set a 14-point gap in favour of the 'Legs come half-time. The third quarter seemed to last an eternity, stretching to just over 33 minutes in a score-laden term of football. The Redlegs could have killed off the contest right here, but a five-goal gap at three quarter-time would still be within the Blues' reach with the Redlegs scoring 6.5 to 4.1. The Blues did respond in the final term, but despite outscoring the Redlegs 6.1 to 3.3, it was not enough to prevent their finals exit. Norwood would add another win to their eliminator tally and book a 1st Semi-Final place with their 14-point win. Dom Barry scored three goals and was named best on ground for Norwood, the Blues voted in Jake Sutcliffe as their best.