Australian Football

AustralianFootball.com Celebrating the history of the great Australian game

 

Norwood vs Port Adelaide Magpies

Scoreboard | Match report

GF   Venue: Adelaide Oval   Date: Sun, 21-09-2014 2:40 pm   Crowd: 38,644  
Norwood 5.1.317.8.5011.8.7412.10.82  
Port Adelaide Magpies 1.3.96.7.4310.10.7011.12.78  
  NORW by 22NORW by 7NORW by 4NORW by 4  
Weather
min temp  9.6°C      max temp  24.2°C
rainfall  0mm    humidity  29%    air pressure  1022.6mb
wind speed 11km/h      wind direction  W

Match Report

Norwood and Port Adelaide. When these two teams are spoken about, many SA footy-heads utter words like "snobs" or "wharfies". But other words that often come out as well are ones like "historic", "arch-rivals", "passion" and of course "premierships". Over the course of SANFL history, these sides have fought out many grand finals against each other and of course other sides. They have almost half the collective premiership silverware of the league's history divided between them, 29 to 36 in favour of the Magpies. Whilst Norwood has had some longer periods between drinks, there's not too many decades that Port Adelaide haven't had their name etched onto a cup or a badge on the Thomas Seymour-Hill Trophy. The Redlegs' longest drought was 25 years, after taking out the 1950 premiership their faithful had to wait until 1975 for their next celebration, while the Magpies' longest wait for flag success is more recent. Before this year's contest, it was 14 seasons and counting. That brings us to the subject of their Grand Final stoushes. It was those 14 seasons ago that these sides fought for the flag, Port's last victory in 1999 a little piece of revenge for their 1997 defeat. Then there's THAT match from 1984, the Redlegs fighting from fifth and an Elimination Final to steal the flag from their traditional nemesis. For this season, both teams would have first-year coaches in Ben Warren, who was making a fast transition from the field to the box, while AFL veteran Garry Hocking was hoping to make his mark in the SANFL where he couldn't at Peel Thunder in the WAFL.

This would be a season that Norwood's dominance was under some serious threat, as the Magpies' newly forged full-time reserves team partnership with their AFL side in the Power would allow them a considerable advantage in personnel fitness and quality above those at other SANFL clubs. The "One Club" tag had suddenly become a reality and, along with the addition of Adelaide into the competition, caused a furore within SANFL fan circles who viewed this as a threat to the integrity of the league. Their fears seemed to be realised quickly as the Magpies took out the minor premiership, but some losses near the end of the season proved that they weren't totally bulletproof. Some chinks in their armour were revealed by the likes of North, Centrals and South, and finalised with a surprise loss to the Tigers who were about to take yet another wooden spoon. Norwood on the other hand, after some early season hiccups including a three-match losing streak after their first round defeat of Port, saw them win just four games from the first four rounds. But in the second half of the year, they would drop only three matches to finish second and in a good position to defend their title. The two games during the home and away rounds would see both sides take some points, as mentioned earlier the Redlegs opened the season with a 19-point win at The Parade, while the 'Pies nicked the result at Alberton in Round 17 by nine points.

The 2nd Semi-Final saw them meet once more to decide the first Grand Final participant, the Redlegs holding off their rivals for a 13-point win, which forced the Magpies into a Preliminary Final against 2014's near-Cinderella story in South Adelaide whom they defeated by 20 points. A crowd of over 38,000 people filed in for the big match and it was not going to disappoint even the neutral onlookers that were no doubt in attendance. The Redlegs would kick off the day on the right note as the Magpies seemingly looked a little out of sorts early on. They would bag five goals in the opening quarter before Port could take just one in the last minute, just one miss to the Magpies' three would have the defending premiers up by 22 points at quarter-time. But as has been the case for much of Season 2014, the Magpies can turn it on-and-off like a light switch. The Magpies silenced the Redlegs' faithful a touch in the second term as they reduced the gap to seven points by the half-time break, although inaccuracy was still an issue they kicked 5.4 while the Redlegs started having some goal-shooting issues of their own as they kicked 2.7 to finish off the half. Suddenly, the Port machine was clicking into gear and the Redlegs' three-peat was looking not so likely and we had ourselves a game.

The rest of the match was going to be an arm-wrestling contest. When play resumed in the third quarter, it was shootout time. The Redlegs would strike first, followed by a Magpies double then some tit-for-tat goaling. A handful of missed shots would see the three quarter-time margin back to just four points, Port having taken 4.3 to Norwood's four goals without a miss. All the neutrals knew this was going to be a classic finish now. It was a shame there weren't too much more goals scored, the final quarter ended up being a desperate scrap for possession and a lot of stoppages going on. Both sides would score 1.2 each during the first 20 minutes, the Redlegs scoring their major in the first three minutes, then the cat was set amongst the pigeons at the 17th to bring it back once more to within a kick. Nails were being bitten to the quick and nerves were no doubt fraying on the terraces as both sides struggled to get within striking distance of goal. But finally at 27 minutes, with the ball in the air and on its way toward the Magpies' attacking 50, the siren would sound and close the season as the Redlegs held on for a four-point win to take out a triple-treat of flags and their 30th senior premiership title. This would be double devastation for the Port faithful, many of which had made a quick return to Adelaide after the Power's loss to Hawthorn the previous day. Steven Summerton was named best for Port, showing leadership by example, but it was Matthew Panos of the Redlegs that would take out the Jack Oatey Medal as best afield all around.

Source

Match report by RA Boyle

Footnotes

* Behinds calculated from the 1965 season on.
+ Score at the end of extra time.