Tigers push through wet conditions to overtake Bloods

It has been evident all through the season so far – in what has been an even and strong competition – that if you don’t come with great attitude and intent, it can be costly. While West Adelaide are not in finals contention, the improvement they’ve shown in some strong performances over the season suggests they are on the right track. The first half on Saturday certainly proved that, as they were able to control the game at half time on the scoreboard.

We were able to dominate the territory battle for the majority of the first half, but there was a tendency to overuse the ball in the wet and slippery conditions. The opportunities we were getting to hit the scoreboard were not able to be capitalised on either, which added to the frustration in the game. The game quickly became a contest battle, and West Adelaide played the conditions better. They were more desperate, and were able to apply some strong scoreboard pressure on us. Full credit to them for how they went about it. A late goal in the second quarter was certainly important for us to have some energy and hope into the second half.

Much like the first half, we had some strong control in terms of where the game was being played. But again, West Adelaide were able to grab the first opportunity and push out their lead to 22 points. To our team’s credit, we were able to play the conditions better from that point on, and pleasingly, we were able to find some strong control around the contest and midfield battle. Some cleaner ball into our forward 50 created some scoreboard reward and allowed us to close the gap to three points at three quarter time. Much like the third quarter, our control and method around contest allowed us to play forward half football and find the opportunities we needed to walk away with by no means an impressive win, but most certainly an important win. We will take away the fact that we were able to find a way when we didn’t have things on our terms for a large part, and that is important in our journey.

Our Reserves team were able to continue with their strong winning form. With the game played in good conditions before the rain set in later in the day, their ability to play a strong offensive brand that we are wanting to play was again impressive. Equally impressive was the defensive method of the group which continues to allow the offensive side of our game flourish. It continues to be really pleasing for us the way this group is preparing and playing consistently.

We head into our Round 15 clash with North Adelaide next Sunday at Prospect Oval. We look forward to seeing all our passionate Bays supporters there again in what is expected to be a high-quality game of football.

– Darren Reeves, Senior Coach

Goal kickers: Luke Reynolds (3), James Bell, Lachie Hosie, Liam McBean

Best Players: Darcy Bailey, Matt Snook, Brett Turner, Max Proud, James Bell, Brodie Newman