by Wedgie » Sat May 05, 2007 3:36 am
Roosters show fight
May 05, 2007 02:15am
NORTH Adelaide pulled off one of the great fighting wins and probably the greatest technical blunder in the contemporary SANFL to roll a tough but poor-kicking Norwood by 15 points at The Parade last night.
The Roosters almost nobbled their own hopes when two interchange players were ruled out of the contest at the first bounce because they had been named on the field on the official team sheet.
Midfielder Tim Martin and ruckman Brett O'Hara could take no part in the match after North's hierarchy started them on the bench after naming them in the starting 18.
That forced North coach Andrew Jarman to throw gutsy 192cm key defender Shane Schubert into the fray as a makeshift ruckman, leaving lofty Adam Cockshell (199cm), who kicked 2.3, and Robbie DeJongh (200cm, 3.0) free to dominate overhead in attack without any North defender able to counter their extreme height.
However, the personnel balance became more even with lion-hearted Legs half-forward Stuart Bown – who had five kicks and three marks in the opening term – heading to hospital before half-time with the heart palpitations complaint that has hounded him for the past six years.
Those mishaps were the only black marks on one of the highest-standard, most tense and thrilling games of SANFL football. Both teams threw in their bodies without concern in an exciting contest that was not decided until time-on in the last quarter when North rattled on 3.2 to close out a match it won by sheer attrition.
The Roosters – without Daniel Motlop, claimed late by the Power – opened brilliantly with three unanswered goals in seven minutes with big-bodied Clint Alleway and Owen Weatherley running roughshod over the Legs defenders. Shannon Motlop and Joel Campbell bedazzled their opponents with finesse in the midfield and quick-thinking Chris Ladhams (6.2) was a constant threat near goals.
But Norwood ignited after 10 minutes with a run of three goals to one and balanced the flow with three unanswered goals in time-on to set a sizzling pace between two of the most talented running outfits in the league. The first term produced 13 goals but the shootout was galvanised with chilling body contact and spectacular overhead skills.
Norwood, which lost Darren Pfeiffer to the Crows, had only itself to blame for the loss. It had more possession in each of the first three quarters and missed eight goals inside 50m in the middle quarters. It led by two points late in the first term and one point in the third when better kicking would have given the Legs a hard-to-beat lead.
RESERVES
NORWOOD 3.3 5.10 11.13 18.18 (126)
NORTH 3.5 3.7 5.9 7.15 (57)
BEST – Norwood: Pratt, Kirwan, Aish, Nicholas, Rossi, Sandery, McLean, Lewis.
North: Kurzel, Thiele, Christie, Brown, Lewis, Delvins.
GOALS – Norwood: Pratt 5, Minson, Pollock, Marshall 2, Lewis, Sandery, Donohue, Fosdike, Speight, Tyrrell, Benbon.
North: Rick Ebert 2, B. White, Kurzel, Thiele, Wundke, Delvins.
Armchair expert wrote:Such a great club are Geelong
)
Bad kicking in the middle 2 quarters cost Nwd when they had the control of possession and having a lead that may have been hard to peg back for North. In the end North played a blinder of a last quarter and even suprised me coming away with the points.
