Australian Football

Match Report

Now its time for some first up Sunday afternoon Footy, game number four takes us to the Flinders University Stadium in Noarlunga for a southern derby between the Panthers and the Double Blues. Both games went to the Blues last season, with victories in Round 7 at Noarlunga and then again in Round 13 at Unley. While they were more in control of their destiny on their home patch where they won by 34 points, the earlier match was not as easy in one of last year's lowest scoring games. Sturt won by two points in the end, with both sides managing just seven majors each. South blew a lead of six straight shots after half-time against the Crows, who would overwhelm them in the finish to go down by five points, while the Blues couldn't get the job done at The Parade in their 27-point loss to Norwood. Things started off slowly, but the Blues were able to keep the Panthers to a mere two behinds, though with better accuracy of their own they may have gone into the quarter-time huddle with more than just 2.3 on the board to lead by 13 points at the first change. But then the Blues went on the charge and never looked back, beginning with a 4.3 to 1.3 second term to lead by 31 points at the end of the half. The Panthers were fielding a very low-experience outfit today, with more than a dozen players having little senior level experience. Well this was to be a learning curve as Sturt kept up the lesson in the second half, despite missing a couple of their own stars. South kicked the first major the Blues then kicked four unanswered to take their lead out to a point shy of eight goals. The Blues finished off with a 6.2 to 3.2 final quarter, ending the game with a 65-point win. Will Snelling was the Blues best afield if not best overall, with a massive 38 disposals, 10 tackles and seven clearances. South would name Hayden Sampson as their standout, with 34 disposals, nine marks and six clearances.