Australian Football

Match Report

Next up we head to the Thomas Farms Oval in Unley for the battle of the southerners, or the "Big Blue" derby between the Double Blues and the Panthers. The Blues blitzed the Panthers in their last encounter back in Round 2, winning by 65 points at Noarlunga. Sturt had as many missed chances as the Panthers in the first half, but led by 31 at half-time before kicking 10 goals to four in the second half to run out easy winners. The Blues have had a run somewhat similar to Centrals, in that they have won games but not as convincingly. Though a strong showing against the table-topping Norwood a few weeks ago is the big difference. They managed to escape the Roosters grasp last week, while the Panthers couldn't catch the Redlegs even at their worst at The Parade. The Blues' injury issues had already deepened prior to this match, with several more key players on the sidelines as well as a late withdrawal. While the Panthers had a good run early on however, that work was undone as the Blues evened things up going into the first change, the two sides kicking 2.1 each in an opening term of two halves -- South owning the first 12 minutes, the Blues the remaining period. The Blues then outscored the Panthers 4.1 to 2.2 in the second term to set up a 17-point lead going into the changerooms at half-time. When play resumed, the Panthers looked as they had returned to the game with some renewed enthusiasm. However their accuracy was rather shocking. They were all over the Blues elsewhere, holding the home side to a mere 1.2. But a return of 3.8 would see them ahead by the narrowest of margins, instead of possibly a few goals. It was those opportunities wasted that South would be made to mull over at the end of the day, the Blues stirring back to life in the final term, albeit with their own problems with the inaccuracy bug. They kept the visitors to a single minor score and peppered through 3.5 of their own to win by 21 points and hold onto second place. James Battersby was best for the Blues with 25 disposals, 11 tackles and six clearances. For South, Kobe Mutch was voted in as their standout with 29 disposals, nine clearances and eight tackles.