NFCW Match Report – Preliminary Final

THE LADY LEGS have fallen in their quest to reach a third straight SANFLW Grand Final by two points at the hands of North Adelaide.

In what was a tough game, the Lady Legs couldn’t execute as they proved wasteful booting 1.10 for the evening.

Despite having more marks and more disposals for the evening, the Roosters were a bit more clinical as Kelly Barltrop’s goal midway through the Premiership quarter was enough to sink the Lady Legs.

Norwood’s effort was never questioned as they were without star forward Jo Hill and midfield star Najwa Allen who were both injured in the match against the Panthers.

Matilda Zander proved to be dangerous up forward for Norwood as she kicked the Lady Leg’s only major for the night.

Hannah Dunn and Sally Riley were influential both collecting 20 plus disposals each, however the Lady Legs couldn’t finish off their good work going forward.

Sophie Armitstead worked tirelessly in the midfield, with her defensive pressure on display laying a team high seven tackles.

Norwood had two chances early in the third term to set the tone, however Zander and Dunn couldn’t capitalise on the opportunities.

Then just as it seemed North had done enough for victory, Norwood took control of general play for the final three minutes, resulting in a scoring opportunity for Rhiannon Busch.

Gathering the ball deep in the forward pocket, Busch let fly with a checkside kick on goal only to miss narrowly and trim the margin to two points.

To North’s credit, defensively they were resolute with their ability to intercept the ball proving to be a real game changer.

The Lady Legs unfortunately won’t feature next Sunday however, no one could question their endeavor and hardness for the contest.

SCOREBOARD:

NORTH  0.1  1.3  2.4  2.6 (18)

NORWOOD  0.4  1.6  1.9  1.10 (16)

BEST: Dunn, Priest, Cutting, Ferrall, Meyer, Reid

GOALS: Zander