Tigers lock in a spot in the Prelim Final

There was lots of excitement leading into this week’s elimination final against South Adelaide. Our opponents had been a highly competitive team throughout the minor rounds, which was reflective in their very healthy percentage. As a result, we prepared for another tough and physical encounter with them.

We started the game well with good territory control for the first eight minutes, but we let ourselves down by only managing to register a couple of behinds with this momentum. The tide soon turned and we were scrambling to defend for the remainder of the quarter. We held up relatively well defensively despite the opposition onslaught, conceding three behinds. That was until a lapse in concentration saw South Adelaide kick a goal late in the quarter. We went into the first break down by seven points.

It was more of the same arm wrestle in the second quarter, with both teams holding up well defensively. A very crafty Caitlyn Swanson goal from 30m out near the boundary line was the only score for the quarter. We headed to the half time break down by just one point.

South Adelaide kicked an early goal in the third quarter, but this seemed to light a fire and spark us into action. A scintillating second half of the quarter saw us take control of the game. Pleasingly, we started to hit the scoreboard, with five shots at goal in a row and three of them converting into goals. This saw us turn a seven-point deficit into a 13-point lead by the three-quarter time break.

The last quarter was a repeat of the third quarter, but sadly inaccurate kicking saw us kick one goal three behinds to push the lead out to 22-points. South Adelaide kicked the last goal of the game, but we certainly played very well defensively in the first half and offensively in the second half to secure a solid 16-point win.

The coaches are really proud of how professional the players were in getting the result this week. Our ability to absorb whatever the opposition threw at us, adjust on the run as necessary, then impact offensively when the game was back on our terms provided a great insight in how we have matured throughout this season.

This week we play a Preliminary Final against Sturt 1:10pm Sunday at Unley Oval. We cannot wait for this one!

– Jason Fairall, Senior Coach

Goal kickers: C. Swanson (2), S. Wilton (2), P. Scholz

Best: Marie Martino, Ellie Kellock, Sarah Goodwin, Jess Bates, Matilda Scholz