Tigers win battle of the cats

What a wild and windy winter’s day Saturday turned out to be at ACH Group Stadium for our game against South Adelaide. Our reserves started the day off well with a comprehensive victory against South.

A good crowd braved the conditions to come out to watch our game and we started the game well kicking with the breeze. It was always going to be a battle of the midfields, as the last time we played South their midfielders got on top of ours, although we were able to come away with a good win down at Noarlunga.

We started well, with our midfielders taking control of the clearances and providing our forwards with numerous entries, however we failed to capitalise on them. South flooded our forward line and it was very congested inside 50 which made it difficult for us to find space. Through some good pressure we were able to produce numerous scoring opportunities, kicking 3:5 to 0:2 for the quarter.

The second quarter started well with our midfield continuing to get their hands on the ball first, however we were kicking into a very strong wind. We kicked a couple of early goals but unfortunately we allowed South to kick 3 late goals through some costly turnovers, taking us into the half time break 9-points up.

The third quarter was very different in the midfield with South getting control of the contests and making it difficult for us to score. South had raised their pressure and the game soon became about the team that was going to be able to use the ball to best provide their forwards with a chance to score. Unfortunately we were inaccurate in front of goals and allowed South to score a couple of goals from some indiscretions. Leading into three quarter time we were 11 points up heading into the last quarter going into the strong wind.

South were able to hit the scoreboard early in the last quarter and it then became a real battle of who was going to make the most of their opportunities. After some good ball movement from our backline, Matt Allen, who was damaging in the forward line, marked in the pocket and quickly found Luke Partington in a better position and he slotted through our first goal of the final quarter. Our backline was instrumental in holding off strong challenges and Matt Snook, who received a heavy knock in the middle of the quarter, returned later to the midfield to take control. He won numerous clearances late and kicked a goal from 50m out on the run, following up with the next centre clearance resulting in Luke Reynolds kicking the sealer.

Unfortunately with the state in lockdown our big game against Port Adelaide prior to our Centenary Dinner won’t happen this weekend and we are unsure of what will happen regarding the fixture yet. Rest assured our players will use this week to freshen up and will continue with their own training programs to ensure they are ready for when the games return. On behalf of the playing group, we would like to wish you all the best in these unusual circumstances. Stay safe, take care of yourself and look after your loved ones.

– Brett Hand, Senior Coach

Goal kickers: M. Allen (3), B. Agnew, C. Curran, L. McBean, M. Motlop, L. Partington, L. Reynolds, M. Snook

League Trademark Player: Sam Durdin