Round 11 U16 & U18 Match Reports

Norwood’s U16 side kept its finals hopes alive on Friday night with an important 40-point Round 11 win over South Adelaide at The Parade.

It was a seventh V eighth battle with both sides on three wins after 10 Rounds, but still just two wins outside of the top four.

Norwood’s 14.9-93 to 8.5-53 win over the Panthers ensured it kept the two match buffer with fourth-placed West Adelaide in tact, ahead of a challenging task against top of the table Sturt this Saturday.

The Redlegs kicked the first two goals of the game on Friday night and never trailed throughout the game.

They kicked four goals to one in the first term to lead by 19 at the first break, with Majoor Ackland kicking two of his four goals in the opening four minutes of play.

Norwood kicked the first goal of the second term through Mitchell Stevenson to make it a 25-point lead, before the Panthers kicked three consecutive goals to make it six points before half time.

After the break Norwood booted seven goals to three to win by a match high margin of 40 points.

Key forwards Ackland and Stevenson each kicked four goals, while Harry Lake had 20 disposals and six tackles, and Darcy Speyer 18 disposals, four tackles and five clearances.

Ruckman Oliver Gribben won 20 hitouts, while also gathered 14 disposals, three clearances and 11 tackles.

Norwood 4.2, 7.3, 10.6, 14.9 – 93

South Adelaide 1.1, 5.4, 6.5, 8.5 – 53

Goals: Ackland 4, Stevenson 4, Seal 2, Hartwig, Jamieson, Searle, Strong

Best: Ackland, Speyer, Lee, Lake, Smith

Five goals to Norwood’s Jay Polkinghorne wasn’t enough to challenge South Adelaide on Friday night, with the Panthers running away with a 34-point win in the U18s.

Polkinghorne kicked five of Norwood’s seven goals, and also gathered 13 disposals, and took eight marks, while Captain Jacob Jones had 29 disposals, eight tackles and eight clearances.

Jaidyn Mead had 27 disposals, and Declan Tomney 23 disposals.

Following three straight wins Norwood has now lost its last two matches to sit with a 6-5 win-loss ratio, equal with the fourth placed Sturt.

The Redlegs fell to South 12.10-82 to 7.6-48 who have now jumped to third on the U18 ladder at 7-4.

Norwood trailed by just two points at quarter time after a close first term, and by 16 at half time, before the Panthers doubled their lead in the second half with six goals to three.

The Redlegs will need to bounce back quickly with a big game against the fourth placed Sturt in Norwood on Saturday.

Norwood 2.3, 4.3, 5.5, 7.6 – 48

South Adelaide 2.5, 6.7, 9.7, 12.10 – 82

Goals: Polkinghorne 5, Barilla, Maddigan

Best: Polkinghorne, Catalano, Jones, Mead, Emerson