Norwood U16s show fight in thrilling win

Norwood’s U16s secured a second win of the 2024 season in thrilling scenes at Norwood Oval on Saturday, knocking off Glenelg by five points. 

It’s been a challenging season for the Redlegs, but their improvement over the past month has been noticeable, claiming their first win of the season in Round 12 over West Adelaide, before closing the gap against Glenelg and Central District in Rounds 13 and 14, and toppling the Tigers on Saturday.

Norwood were comprehensively beaten by the Tigers (56 points) in Round 3, and destroyed by Centrals (87 points) in Round 8, but over the past three weeks took a 25-point loss to Glenelg and a 11-point loss to the Bulldogs, before Saturday’s five-point well-deserved win.

The win didn’t come easy, with Glenelg kicking four of the first five goals to get out to a 22-point lead late in the first term.

Joseph Nak nailed an important goal for Norwood just before quarter time to bring the margin back to 16 points at the first break.

Norwood had the better of the second quarter, but couldn’t kick straight in front of goal, finishing with 1.4 to 1.0 in the second term, as the Tigers maintained a 12-point lead at half time.

Both sides struggled to convert in front of goal in a rampant third quarter, with Glenelg kicking the first goal to through Harvey Croker.

Glenelg had all the play in the opening 10 minutes for a return of 1.4 to 0.1 to get the game back out to 21 points.

Norwood Captain Blake Jones made them pay, gathering the ball 60m out, taking two bounces and drilling a crucial goal against the run of play to bring the game back to 15 points.

Archie Hawke straightened Glenelg up with a second Tigers goal of the term, before Mason Tambe kicked back to back goals for the Redlegs to close out the third term.

Turning for home eight points down, Norwood found the first goal of the final quarter through Callum Myles to make it three on the trot and just a two-point margin.

Glenelg kept hanging around to extend the margin when Ben Copping goaled at the four-minute mark.

Norwood just could not regain the lead that the Tigers had maintained since the seven-minute mark of the first term.

Again Glenelg had crucial chances in front of goal, but couldn’t make them stick as the Tigers booted three consecutive behinds to edge their way to a 10-point lead with 10 minutes remaining.

Norwood forward Matthew Altamura converted a 30m set shot at the 13-minute mark to bring his Redlegs within four points, before Nak’s second goal finally put Norwood in the lead.

The Redlegs hit the front with eight minutes remaining, and from there had the capacity to keep the ball in their forward half for the remainder of the game, booting three further behinds and securing their second win of the 2024 season.

B. Jones led the way with 28 disposals, four clearances and a goal, while Billy Boxer had 23 disposals in his first game of the season.

Ruckman Michael Owen was best on ground with 35 hit outs and 14 disposals.

Norwood 2.0, 3.4, 6.7, 9.11 – 65

Glenelg 4.4, 5.4, 7.9, 8.12 – 60

Goals: Nak 2, Tambe 2, Altamura, Grigg, B. Jones, Leach, Myles

Best: Owen, Boxer, Grigg, Bartel, B. Bartel

Norwood’s U18s struggled against a strong Glenelg side, with the top of the table Tigers claiming a 94-point win at Norwood Oval.

The Redlegs had to deal with a spate of changes given the resumption of the Adelaide College Football season, and were held goalless to three quarter time in a disappointing day.

Robert Varcoe kicked two goals in the final term, and Anthony Mustaca one, but the Tigers also kicked three goals to ensure the Redlegs made no inroads on the margin.

Darcy Speyer was Norwood’s best player with 22 disposals and five clearances.

The Redlegs junior sides have a Bye this weekend, before finishing their season with matches against South Adelaide at Noarlunga and Sturt at Unley.

Norwood 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 3.2 – 20

Glenelg 3.3, 8.5, 14.9, 17.12 – 114

Goals: Varcoe 2, Mustaca

Best: Speyer, Brock, Flower, Kirchhofer, van Wyk