Tigers hold off the Crows

It was a cold winter July day and when we saw the Crows’ side we knew we were going to be in for a tough game against a quality side with 17 AFL-listed players. Within the first minute or so you could tell that Adelaide were preparing to be physical, with a big bump on Alex Martini who bounced back up immediately and got back on with his job. The first quarter was a seesawing affair with both sides taking the lead at times, but Adelaide were getting on top with their ball movement and had 7 more inside 50 entries and went into quarter time 8 points up. Dylan Landt started the game well and Brad Agnew was enjoying his role back in the midfield, but it was Adelaide’s wingmen that were having an influence on the game.

The second quarter continued in the same way that the first did with both sides having good passages of play and converting consecutive goals, but it was our forwards who were able to make the most of our inside 50 entries with Motlop, McBean and Reynolds all hitting the scoreboard and lowering the margin to just 3 points at half time.

Luke Partington was starting to have a significant influence on the game and he was instrumental in us taking the lead during the third quarter. Only we lost concentration and allowed Adelaide to kick 3 late goals to go into three quarter time with an 8 point lead again.

We knew the last quarter was going to be a tight one and it ended up being a high scoring quarter, with us able to have 10 shots on goal to Adelaide’s 7, allowing us to come away with a handy 15-point victory. Our defenders were under pressure all day from quality AFL experienced players but they stood strong and limited the number of marks they were able to take, with Max Proud particularly keeping Himmelberg scoreless for the game. Our midfield were very good and as the game went on we were able to move the ball in a more efficient manner, providing more opportunities to our forwards. It was great to come away with our 12^th win of the season and we now set our sights on a resurgent Double Blues outfit who have now won three games in a row and who we had an extremely tight and competitive game against back in Round 6. We look forward to the challenge this week and seeing you all at Unley oval on Saturday afternoon.

– Brett Hand, Senior Coach

Goal kickers: M. Motlop (3), L. Partington (3), M. Allen (2), D. Bailey (2), L. McBean (2), L. Reynolds (2), J. Edwards, A. Martini, B. Turner

Trademark Player: Alex Martini