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Finals, Week 2

1SF

Team Score SC
Woodville West Torrens 136
South Adelaide 66SC

2SF

Team Score SC
Central District 77
Norwood 33SC

Premiership season 2011 - Finals, Week 2 Review

Total Crowd 22,886 (Avg 11,443)

The finals rolled on into its second week this past Sunday, after bidding farewell to the Tigers last week we would see another team join them on the sidelines. There was also the other question of who would qualify for the Grand Final first, with the minor premiers Central District returning to the battlefield in the Second Semi-Final. Would we see a further re-writing of the record books with a 12th consecutive victory in this type of final or would the Dogs be thrust into a situation they haven't found themselves in for this dominant period?

Welcome to the Week Two edition of the SANFL Finals Wrap-Up

Its back to AAMI Stadium once again, first up is the cut-throat 1st Semi-Final between the Eagles and the Panthers. South Adelaide's push into the finals from their wooden spoon in 2010 was given a further boost last week after disposing of the Tigers in the Elimination Final last weekend, but the second week of finals isn't entirely new to the Panthers. Their last finals appearance in 2006 brought them to a 2nd week berth but were bundled out by the Roosters. The Eagles were humbled horribly last week by the Redlegs, a 61-point loss in the Qualifying final putting a big shock in the camp at Oval Avenue. The 2011 season saw these sides meet three times, despite goals being hard to come by the Eagles prevailed at Noarlunga in Round 21 after being defeated at the same venue in Round 13. Add the 15-point win to the Eagles in the opening round at Woodville, they would hold a 2-1 record for this year. The Panthers would go in without two major cogs in their engine room, Josh Thewlis would have his season ended through injury and Mitch Sandery's stupid hit on Glenelg's Matt Snook saw him cop a suspension.

The Eagles would start off the dominant outfit in the first quarter, the first goal coming at the fifth minute mark after a Lee Staple mark and set shot. Luke Thompson's ground-hugging punt at eight minutes and a James Rimington score prior to the ninth minute added to South's early match woes. The Panthers would finally find the big sticks at 21 minutes, Michael Wundke putting through their first major. They would bag the final goal of the opening term, but at quarter-time the Eagles' 6.2 to South's 2.1 would see them behind by 25 points at the first change. The Eagles would kick off the goal-scoring in the second term, Adam Grocke putting the Eagles' seventh major within 30 seconds of the restart. South's second term got going in the fourth minute after a one-handed grab in the goalsquare, Wundke adding his second goal for his tally. He would get a third goal at the eighth minute, then Adam Cockshell's free kick chimed in at 12 minutes as the Panthers started reeling the Eagles back in. The Panthers would outscore the Eagles 4.1 to 2.1 to put the half-time deficit at 13 points -- 51 to 38.

The Eagles were suddenly under attack from a desperate Panther outfit, but that desperation South had shown during that second quarter would desert them in the third quarter as the Eagle show re-commenced. The effort shown during the opening quarter was re-produced as Leigh Treeby opened up the second half goal account at two minutes, a 55-metre shot scraping through near the left post. It wasn't just the Eagles re-creating the first quarter, South did the same with their low third term score. Despite answering the quick Eagle goal through Toby Stribling and coming within a kick of the lead thanks to Andrew Ainger, the Eagles would finish the third term with 6.3 to South's 2.2 to take a 38-point advantage going into the final quarter. The Eagles would proceed to bury the dagger into the hearts of the Panther faithful with a ruthless last term effort. They would bag a further 7.4 to South's 2.2, Grocke notching up six goals for his day as the Eagles booked a Week 3 appearance with their 70-point victory. Treeby was voted best afield for the Eagles, while South named Nick Liddle as their standout. Back to the drawing board for Ron Fuller and South Adelaide.

Next up in this year's finals action, its the Second Semi-Final where the Bulldogs met up with the Redlegs. This match is one that has been won every single time for the past 12 seasons by the Bulldogs, including the last one against Norwood last year on their way to their ninth premiership. The scorecard for the 2011 season puts the Dogs ahead 2-1, the one-point loss at The Parade in Round 10 just one of three Central losses for the year. The Redlegs confidence would have been up somewhat, although the Eagles gameplan last week didn't really trouble Norwood in the least. It probably didn't faze Bulldogs coach Roy Laird either. But whoever would drop this one would probably have to study the game tape of the Eagles' match before hand given their efforts in breaking the 1st Semi apart after half-time. This is what would greet the loser of this match in the Preliminary Final... the other would proceed straight into the Grand Final, a path the Bulldogs know extremely well. Its how they've won their nine from 11 premiership deciders!

The Bulldogs wouldn't take long to bag their first goal, within the first minute Ian Callinan would kick off the scoring. The Redlegs finally answered that score with a major of their own through Luke Brown at the eighth minute mark, but that would be the only goal Norwood would get in the opening quarter. The Dogs would kick two more goals through Ryan Williams and Trent Goodrem -- that last goal right on the siren -- to set the scoreboard at 3.1 to Norwood's 1.2, an 11-point gap at quarter-time. The second term was all about the pressure on the body that scores, the goals pretty hard to come by as both sides got defensive. Central's first goal for the term came as a result of a judgement error on the part of Alexis Georgiou, pushing the ball out of play deliberately to hand a goal to Eddie Sansbury. To add injury to insult, during that passage of play Will Young would go off on a stretcher with an ankle injury after a Jason Sutherland tackle. Then to prove bad things come in threes, despite being under some pressure, Darren Pfeiffer's rushed behind saw a deliberate rushing call issued and a cheap goal to Williams. Cam Shenton finally put a goal through for the 'Legs just before the half-time siren, at the long break the Dogs held a 17-point lead.

When play resumed, the same mentality seen in the second quarter was there again in the third term, defensive football and pressure football where scores were at a premium. Norwood had an opportunity for a quick goal early on, but indecisiveness kept them from getting within striking distance. More injuries came the way of the Redlegs, Bryce Campbell's knee injury bringing the stretcher out for a second time after clashing with the body of James Gowans who was getting down for the loose ball. The 'Legs continued to squander opportunities on goal with three shots going wide, but finally the goal-drought was broken at the 19th minute as Matt Fuller bagged a major. But the Dogs would add two more, including a potential goal of the year to Callinan. Their 2.2 to Norwood's 1.3 put the gap out to 22 points. The Redlegs wouldn't trouble the Dogs any further after this, Centrals would add another 5.1 to a paltry 1.3 in the final term to run out 44-point winners and book a 12th Grand Final in-a-row. The Dogs named captain Paul Thomas as their best, while the Redlegs voted in Kieran McGuinness as their standout.

INJURIES Central - Havelberg (hamstring) Norwood - Young (ankle), Campbell (knee), Hughes (knee), Bown (head cut)

REPORTS South - Rolfe (high contact) Central - Sutherland (charging), Hayes (striking)

OTHER GRADE FINALS

The Redlegs reserves will continue in finals but their juniors outfit will not. At Alberton Oval, the U-18's were sent packing by the Roosters after going down by 16 points while the Reserves take their spot in the Grand Final after defeating Glenelg by 14 goals. Central District will face the Tigers in this weekend's Reserves Preliminary final after defeating the Magpies at Richmond in the 1st Semi by 23 points, after that the U-18 2nd Semi-Final saw the Tigers book their Grand Final spot after defeating Port by 31 points.

RESERVES 1st Semi-Final - Central District 12.13 (85) def. Port Adelaide 9.8 (62) 2nd Semi-Final - Norwood 21.9 (135) def. Glenelg 7.9 (51)

U-18's 1st Semi-Final - North Adelaide 12.10 (82) def. Norwood 9.12 (66) 2nd Semi-Final - Glenelg 18.14 (122) def. Port Adelaide 14.7 (91)

ALLAN NETS THIRD LEAGUE MEDAL

The 2011 Magarey Medal went to North Adelaide's James Allan, making him the seventh player in SANFL history to win the award three times and joining names like Lindsay Head and Barrie Robran on the honour list. South Adelaide duo Michael Wundke and Tarak Redigolo left with the Ken Farmer and Reserves Magarey medals respectively, Central District's Jarrod Schiller was named Powerade Star Search winner while Port Adelaide's Scott Burnett took both the Macca's Cup MVP and the McCallum-Tomkins Medal.

R-23, Ladder

Team GP PTS %
CENT 20 34 56.83
NORW 20 28 55.40
W-WT 20 26 54.90
GLEN 20 19 46.41
SOUTH 20 17 46.12
PORT 20 16 49.39
WEST 20 16 47.57
NORTH 20 14 50.05
STURT 20 10 44.55

Footnotes

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