Legs run past Crows to set up Qualifying Final berth

NORWOOD all but secured a double chance in the 2021 SANFL Finals after recording a 43-point win against Adelaide at Coopers Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

With a spot in the finals all but secured, the Redlegs had to hope for the Double Blues to defeat North Adelaide to record a spot in the top three and therefore earn the double chance.

The Redlegs held up their end of the bargain as Sturt cruised past the Roosters by 70-points.

Norwood saw off a third-quarter rally from the Crows, winning 14.11 (95) to 7.10 (52) setting up a qualifying final clash with Woodville this Sunday afternoon at Adelaide Oval.

The Redlegs started the match with a point to prove booting the first three majors of the game.

The Crows kicked the final goal of the first term through Patrick Parnell as they trailed Norwood early by nine points.

The Redlegs capitalised on their advantage in the second term and broke the game open with four unanswered goals in a dominant second quarter, building a game-high 38-point lead.

Tristan Binder was impressive with two goals in the term, while Cole Gerloff kicked his first major on his return from a shoulder injury.

Crows started the third term with a point to prove as they kicked three goals in a row to reduce the deficit to 20-points before Pascoe marked strongly for Norwood executed his set shot to get the margin back out to 26-points.

A moment of magic occurred minutes after as Gerloff pulled down a screamer to bring the Norwood fans off their seats in jubilation. He made no mistake from 35-metres and suddenly the Legs looked the good surging to a 31-point lead.

But the Crows, who had a fair contingent of AFL talent, fought back and cut the margin to 11 points with two goals to end the third term and the first goal of the final quarter.

Captain Cameron Shenton put his stamp on the contest kicking a crucial goal from 40-metres as Gerloff kicked his third and Nelligan got in on the act kicking his first.

Binder registered his third five minutes later before ruckman Michael Knoll kicked a beautiful goal combining well with Xavier Tranfa to all but seal the win for Norwood.

Tristan Binder and Cole Gerloff kicked three goals each for Norwood, with the latter taking a spectacular mark in the third term captured in the image above.

Declan Hamilton and Nik Rokahr had 23 disposals each as Redlegs’ teammates Mitch Grigg (21 disposals) and Richard Douglas (20 disposals) were eased off in the final term once the result was in hand.

The Redlegs now face the Eagles in the Qualifying Final at Adelaide Oval this Sunday afternoon from 3:15 pm.

SCOREBOARD:

NORWOOD: 3.1 7.7 9.7 14.11 (95)

ADELAIDE: 1.4 1.5 6.7 7.10 (52)

GOALS: T. Binder 3, C. Gerloff 3, L. Pascoe 2, X. Tranfa 2, M. Knoll, C. Shenton, H. Boyd, H. Nelligan

BEST: N. Rokahr, T. Binder, M. Grigg, H. Nelligan, M. Knoll, C. Gerloff