Norwood march into the SANFLW Grand Final

Norwood will take on South Adelaide in next Saturday’s SANFLW Grand Final at Coopers Stadium following a 19-point Preliminary Final win over Glenelg at Stratarama Stadium.

On a wet, cold and windy day at The Bay, it was a game of momentum swings and Norwood was fortunate to have it swing in its favour when it counted, booting the last three goals of the game to run away with an 8.7-55 to 5.6-36 win over the Tigers.

For the third straight week, Kiana Lee had an enormous impact on the game, kicking three second quarter goals before drifting back in defense when her side needed, taking several intercept marks across half back.

Lee finished with three goals, 14 disposals and nine marks.

Georgina Birchall had 12 disposals and kicked a crucial last quarter goal to put the Redlegs eight points in front.

Emma Clark kicked the sealer with a clever snap, while co-captain Steph Simmonds led from the front with 11 disposals, and a “captain’s goal” in the dying minutes of the third term to put her side back in front at the final break.

Both sides kicked two goals in the first term, before Norwood looked to have the game under control at half time, leading 5.2-32 to 2.0-12, thanks to Lee’s three goals, but Glenelg had other ideas.

Despite Norwood’s scoreboard advantage, Glenelg was dominating clearance 23-13, disposal 94-83, inside 50m 15-11 and even led tackles 40-38.

The Bays response came immediately after the break, booting the next three goals to reclaim the lead in the blink of an eye, as Tigers midfielders Jessica Bates and Jo Miller dominated the third quarter. Bates finished the game with 33 disposals, two goals and 10 tackles, while her partner in crime Miller had 21 touches and eight clearances.

Glenelg was in full control of the game in a third quarter where the home side had 10-3 inside 50m entries and 11-4 clearances, but it was all for a costly return of 3.6 on the scoreboard.

Norwood seemed rattled, constantly turning the ball over in its back half, giving away free kicks, and 25m penalties which Glenelg made the most of.

It was one way traffic, and Bates and Miller were causing havoc. Bates ran in and nailed Glenelg’s third goal of the quarter to level the scores.

Another minute later, a rushed behind put the Tigers in front for the first time since the 15-minute mark of the first term.

It was all unravelling for Norwood, as Horne took a contested mark, before drawing a 25m penalty to march her 15m from goal. She couldn’t nail the goal, but she had another chance a minute later when the Redlegs gave away yet another off the ball free kick.

The Redlegs needed to compose themselves with the Tigers claiming a 5.5-35 to 5.2-32 lead.

The Tigers had a three-point lead and all the momentum closing in on three quarter time, before Simmonds stepped up with three huge efforts to tip the scales back in Norwood’s favour.

Simmonds threw herself at a marking contest on the wing, then dove desperately to touch a ball that was dribbling over the boundary line, and most importantly nailed a goal around her body to put her side back in front at the final break.

At three quarter time Norwood led 6.2-38 to 5.6-36, despite the Tigers dominating every aspect of the term.

The wind was favouring the northern end that Norwood was kicking towards in the final quarter, and the ball was parked down that end for the duration of that quarter.

The Redlegs went on to kick 2.5 to no score in the final quarter, to claim another hard fought win and march into the 2024 Grand Final.

Birchall and Clark both nailed their set shots in the final term to help the Redlegs run out 19-point winners.

It was the first time Norwood had defeated Glenelg all season.

Norwood host the Panthers at Norwood’s Coopers Stadium next Saturday. The Redlegs have secured two victories over the minor premiers in 2024, a 20-point win in Round 1 and 25 points in Round 8.

Norwood 2.0, 5.2, 6.2, 8.7 – 55

Glenelg 2.0, 2.0, 5.6, 5.6 – 36

Goals: Lee 3, Davies, Rusden, Simmonds, Birchall, Clark

Best: Lee, Simmonds, Boon, Belbin, Arkun