Round 9 Hostplus SANFLW League Match Wraps

By WARREN PARTLAND

Central District nailed three goals in the final quarter to retrieve a 19-point deficit and deny North Adelaide in Round 9 of the Hostplus SANFLW League at X Convenience Oval.

When Katelyn Pope kicked a magnificent goal just a minute into the final term, the Roosters looked set to join fourth-placed Sturt and Glenelg on eight premiership points on the ladder.

But gun forward Katelyn Rosenzweig, a former Rooster and the league’s leading goalkicker, stood tall in attack to kick two goals in two minutes and put the Bulldogs on the path to victory.

With five minutes left on the clock, Caitlin Wendland earned a holding the ball free kick and quickly jumped to her feet to snap the goal and give the home side the lead.

Bulldogs Maria Moloney and Shelby Smith, who leads from the front on the ball, were the leading possession winners.

Roosters full back Kristi Harvey maintained her outstanding form this season and continually defused attacking raids from the Bulldogs.

Pope also has had a highly productive season and again had an impact for the visitors.

Woodville-West Torrens and West Adelaide produced the first draw of the season after the Bloods rallied in the final quarter at Maughan Thiem Kia Oval.

Lily Johnson ran into an open goal after receiving a handball from dangerous Bloods forward Gemma Houghton to level the scores 13 minutes into the final quarter.

Just two minutes earlier, Houghton nailed her second goal to give her side life after the Eagles appeared set to grab their third victory.

The Eagles opened the game in emphatic fashion to have three goals on the board within nine minutes.

There would be no more goals from the home side, although they still held a handy 14-point lead early in the third term.

Leah Cutting was everywhere for the Eagles, while teammate Marlie Fiegert continued her impressive form.

Zoe Venning is the leading disposal-winner in the league and she was at it again for the Bloods, picking up 33 touches.

West’s Asha Dufour had 26 and Illish Ross finished with 10 clearances and eight tackles.

The draw snapped a six-game losing streak for the Bloods and they joined the Eagles on five premiership points on the ladder.

All season South Adelaide has responded when challenged to earn their lofty role on top of the ladder.

And the Panthers again showed their fighting qualities, and why they are title-favourites, to conquer Glenelg by 13 points at Stratarama Stadium.

The Tigers, with Madisyn Freeman and Ellie Kellock in fine form, had the ascendency in the opening quarter to grab a 12-point buffer.

After being restricted to just two behinds, the Panthers wrestled control in the second term to bag three goals and keep the Tigers scoreless for the quarter.

Cheyenne Hammond got her hands to plenty of possessions for the visitors and Jordann Hickey was a star deep in the forward line.

Hickey capitalised on her strong marking to kick all three goals of the second quarter and then added another in the third when the Panthers charged to a 16-point advantage.

The Tigers climbed back into the contest on the back of two goals from free kicks, only for the Panthers to again have the answers.

There was one glaring statistic which fully reflected the dominance of Norwood in crushing Sturt by 36 points at Wigan Oval to climb to third on the Hostplus SANFLW ladder.

The Redlegs had 30 more visits inside 50 and restricted the Double Blues to only three for the first half, such was their total control of territory.

It took nine minutes for the home side to move the ball forward of the centre line, and that was only momentarily.

Ebony O’Dea and Lana Schwerdt were outstanding for the Redlegs, while Jade Halfpenny, the game’s first goal kicker, was potent in attack.

Teenager Sachi Syme had a brilliant opening quarter for the Redlegs and her goal early in the
second term was apt reward for her heavy influence.

The Redlegs, needing a response to the loss to North Adelaide the previous round, were relentless with their pressure and they spent most of the game camped deep in the forward zone.

The Double Blues were missing a raft of quality personnel, but they got productive service from Isobel Kuiper and full back Alex Ballard.