Australian Football

Match Report

The final game for the weekend took place on the Sunday afternoon at the Hickinbotham Oval in Noarlunga, the Panthers clashing with the Double Blues. These two clubs shared the points from their battles in 2016, the home sides held sway on both occasions with the Blues handing out an eight-goal belting in Round 8, followed by South returning the favour plus one point in Round 19. The Panthers took points up north at Elizabeth last weekend, while the Blues won their second match for this year with a win at Prospect. 

The first quarter wasn't loaded with scoring, in fact the fans were made to wait until over half-way through the term for a major to happen. At quarter-time it was the Blues by three points, the board reading two goals to South's 1.3. From here it was all Sturt as the Panthers' defence went to water, despite some inaccuracy they would kick a further 3.4 to a lowly three behinds and set up a half-time lead of 22 points. The Panthers fortunes would continue to take a dive in the third quarter, their only goal came near the 15th minute. That and three more behinds to Sturt's four goals without a miss saw the home side down by 37 points going into the final quarter. Their home match streak was brought to an almighty halt, the reigning premiers getting their season back on track with a 52-point win after adding 5.5 to 3.2 to finish the afternoon. 

Sam Colquhoun was named best for the Blues, the Panthers named Matt Rose as their best on ground.