Round 6 SANFL Women’s Match Wraps

By PETER CORNWALL

Gun North Adelaide forward Kelly Barltrop on Sunday set a SANFL Women’s goalkicking record as the Roosters pushed for a finals berth with a 49-point win against the Eagles.

Barltrop booted three goals to take her season tally to a new league best 16 as North Adelaide lifted its win-loss record for the season to 3-3, joining fourth-placed Glenelg on premiership points but narrowly behind the Bays on percentage.

Unbeaten Norwood remains on top of the Statewide Super Women’s League with six wins, followed by reigning premier South Adelaide (5-1), West Adelaide (4-2), then the Tigers and North with four rounds remaining before the major round.

The Roosters had plenty of the ball in the opening term at Maughan Thiem Kia Oval but struggled to make the most of their chances, with the Eagles defending like their lives depended on it. After opening with three successive behinds, elusive forward Adrienne Davies marked a pass from Kat Reynolds and just snuck in her shot for the first goal of the game after 12 minutes.

Davies was at her inspirational best when she snared an intercept mark, dashed through half-forward and dribbled through an impressive goal right on the quarter-time siren.

The Eagles were throwing themselves into it, just needing to clean up their skills, when Kiana Lee pulled off a courageous smother, forcing a turnover that ended with Cassandra Glover soccering through the Eagles’ first goal.

But hopes of the home team pulling off an upset turned sour when a bad turnover saw Barltrop read the play nicely and boot her first major for the day. As the half-time siren neared, Emma Sampson booted the ball long, it cleared the pack and there was Barltrop again, her second goal lifting her to 15 for the season – equalling the SANFL Women’s record which had been held by two other Roosters – Chloe Scheer in 2017 and Katelyn Rosenzweig last season.

After 12 minutes of consistent Roosters attacking in the third quarter for four successive behinds – thanks to some determined and strong Eagles defending – Baltrop earned a free kick for holding on in the forward pocket and steered through her record-breaking 16th goal for the campaign.

The goal inspired some run-and-gun from North, which swept the ball downfield and as it spilled over the back Sampson read it best and ended the game as a contest with the Roosters’ sixth major from the goalsquare.

Inspirational North Adelaide leader Nadia von Bertouch was in the thick of it with 22 disposals and eight tackles but coach Roosters coach Matt Slade would have been delighted with the even spread from his team, whose domination of possessions (243-182) showed just how much they shared the ball around.

NORTH          2.3 4.5 6.9 8.9  (57)

EAGLES        0.1 1.1 1.1 1.2   (8)

LEADING DISPOSALS – North: Nadia von Bertouch 22, Lauren Daniel, Brittany Perry 19, Leah Tynan 18, Erica Greet, Emma Sampson 14.

Eagles: Jovanka Zecevic 19, Jaimi Tabb 14, Teagan Usher 13, Natasha Farrier, Stephanie Walker 12.

GOALS – North: Kelly Barltrop 3, Emma Sampson, Adrienne Davies 2, Kathryn Reynolds.

Eagles: Cassandra Glover.

There wasn’t a single goal scored in Glenelg’s Round 5 loss against Sturt but less than a minute after the opening bounce against top side Norwood, Bonnie Wells had a goal on the board for the Bays.

It was the best possible start for Glenelg, which had won its first three games this year but dropped the next two. But the Redlegs, with three goals to one in the second half, remained unbeaten at the top of the premiership table with a hard-fought 11-point win in the early game at Unley on Saturday.

SANFL Women’s leading possession-winner this season Hannah Dunn again inspired Norwood with 26 possessions and a goal, while Monique Hollick, who has taken more marks than anyone this year, pulled in another 10 to go with her 20 disposals and a goal.

Glenelg worked hard to win more tackles and clearances than the Legs but Norwood was more dangerous when it had the ball, winning thenside-50 count 30-21.

Caitlin Gould stood tall for the Tigers with 15 possessions and 17 hit-outs.

NORWOOD       1.4 1.4 4.7 4.8  (32)

GLENELG          1.0 2.3 2.3 3.3  (21)

LEADING DISPOSALS – Norwood: Hannah Dunn 26, Monique Hollick 20, Hanna Priest 16, Sophie Armitstead 15, Thalia Meyer 12, Bella Smith 11.

Glenelg: Caitlin Gould, Chelsea Packer 15, Brooke Trevena 12, Madisyn Freeman 11.

GOALS – Norwood: Hannah Dunn, Monique Hollick, Bella Smith, Sophie Armitstead.

Glenelg: Lauren Bungey, Samantha Franson, Bonnie Wells.

West Adelaide stormed back to claim a crucial win after Sturt blew it away early in blustery conditions at Peter Motley Oval on Saturday.

Caitlyn Swanson was in the thick of it with two goals in the opening quarter as Sturt rattled on four goals to one chasing a second successive win after breaking through against Glenelg the previous week. The Double Blues held on to an eight-point lead at the main break but with Madison Newman again winning plenty of the footy and Chelsea Biddell dangerous around the goals the Bloods gradually kicked away, Helen Maidment sealing the deal with a clever left-foot snap late in the last quarter. Biddell booted four goals to lift her season tally to 12, second-best in the league. West’s crucial 12-point win lifted it to third on the ladder with four wins from six games.

Swanson finished with 16 touches for the Blues, while Maya Rigter had 11 tackles to go with her 15 disposals and Hannah Dreckow hit the heights with 29 hit-outs.

WEST          1.0 3.4 5.4 6.7  (43)

STURT        4.0 5.0 5.1  5.1 (31)

LEADING DISPOSALS – West: Madison Newman 21, Chelsea Biddell 20, Abbie Ballard 18, Emma Smith 14, Rebecca Owen 12.

Sturt: Caitlyn Swanson 16, Casey Fraser, Maya Rigter 15, Kate Harris 13, Nicole Baker 12.

GOALS – West: Chelsea Biddell 4, Melanie Elsegood, Helen Maidment.

Sturt: Caitlyn Swanson 2, Tess Maple, Sophie Hoyle, Hannah Prenzler.

Reigning premier South Adelaide booted eight goals in a second-half demolition job of Central District at Flinders University Stadium, Noarlunga on Saturday.

The Bulldogs, who have taken some positive steps in already winning two games in their debut season, held a two-point lead at half-time, Chantel Reynolds having booted a goal.

But South stepped it up with three goals in the third quarter and five in the last, showing they are going to be hard to stop at the business end of the season. Running machine Czenya Cavouras – the second-leading possession-winner in the league and leading handballer – earned nine kicks and 13 handballs and last year’s grand final best-afield medal-winner Cheyenne Hammond picked up 16 kicks. Mykala Walker-Murphy booted four goals, including three in the last-quarter blitz. The 17-year-old last year burst onto the scene with four goals on debut against North Adelaide.

South’s power-packed win was another warning to its rivals, the Panthers winning the possession count 273-166 and inside-50s by a staggering 44-12.

SOUTH          1.0 1.1 4.5 9.7  (61)

CENTRAL      1.2 1.3 1.3  1.3 (9)

LEADING DISPOSALS – South: Czenya Cavouras, Teah Charlton 22, Nicole Campbell, Cheyenne Hammond 20, Hannah Munyard 18, Emogen Johnson, Sarah Wright 17.

Central: Danielle Stewart 23, Demi Sonneman 15, Jayme-Lee Sonneman 13, Kimberley Fry 10.

GOALS – South: Mykala Walker-Murphy 4, Teah Charlton, Nicole Campbell, Danielle Goding, Jessica Kirk, Hannah Munyard.

Central: Chantel Reynolds.