R4: Port v South Review

[Macca19]

Port Adelaide has stormed home to win a scrappy error-riddled game by 43 points at Alberton Oval today.

With only two goals in it at the last change, Port Adelaide kicked the first six goals of the last quarter, with Souths only goal for the quarter coming after the siren. South Adelaide led the Magpies by two goals halfway through the third quarter before the Magpies kicked 10 of the last 12 goals of the match.

The match was filled with unforced errors as both sides gave up goals through errent kicking, continuous missed handballs and poor decision making. Both sides also took control of the match for various periods of time during a tight first three quarters.

A tight first quarter saw the lead change a couple of times. Jared Poulton kicked the first for the Magpies after a spillage 25 metres out in front of goal. South replied with the next two goals through Denis Iljecson and the rather plump looking Damien Cupido. In the absence of Jeremy Clayton, Power listed Jacob Surjan continually cleared the ball and the Magpies kicked the last three goals of the first quarter.

The second quarter was all South Adelaide to start off with, with Captain Josh Sampson and Ben Warren kicking the first two goals of the quarter to wrestle back the lead. Scott Stevens snapped one moments later and the match went into lockdown for the next 15 minutes. With both sides making terrible mistakes going forward, the match was played almost entirely in the middle 75 metres of the ground. Both sides missed some shots on goal before Clive Waterhouse broke the deadlock. Ivan Maric followed up shortly after before Ben Warren kicked his second to cut the margin back to 9 points at the main break.

Jacob Surjan and Scott McGlone were the clear best players on the ground for their respective sides in the first half. Surjan doing most of his good work in the centre of the ground whilst McGlone rebounded strongly out of defence. John Baird was a rock at CHB and worked well with other defenders Tom Carr, Dane Fitzgerald and Kristian DePasquale in getting the ball out of danger. Matthew Lokan was also doing a fine job on Cupido. The Magpies were falling over across half forward however with Scott Stevens and Shane Morrison having very quiet first halves.

South got most of their run from half back with McGlone and Bennett having a strong influence. Souths super smalls in Kenna, Archard and Davey were causing havoc aroudn the midfield and half forward line but they couldnt put that onto the score board.

South started the third quarter with three quickfire goals which put the Magpies on the backfoot. Their 9 point lead was suddenly a two goal defecit and they were struggling to get the ball forward of centre. Ports defence halted the attacks, mainly thanks to the unpassable John Baird and Corey AhChee.

Tim Ginever moved utility Troy Butcher into the forward lines and the move proved to be an almost match winning one. His three goals in 5 minutes (split by a goal to Love for South) got the Magpies back on top and they were never challenged from that point on for the rest of the day.

After South attacked early on in the last, Port dominated for the rest of the quarter, kicking 6 unanswered goals. Clive Waterhouse, who was reasonably well held by Alipate Carlile all day, hit a purple patch and kicked three goals, whilst smalls Roc Harry and Kyle Jenner also joined in with two quick goals.

South kicked a goal after the final siren to Williams but it was far too late and the Magpies ran away 43 point victors. Souths inability to finish the match off would have been a worrying sign for the Panthers coach Robert Pyman.

Port continue to play well with their simple gameplan and teamwork. They share the load around and dont rely on any one or two players to fire them up. They travel to the Parade next week in a blockbuster Friday night match against the Redlegs, whilst South play at home to the struggling Sturt.

PA 4.5 / 7.8 / 11.14 / 17.15 (117)
SA 3.4 / 6.5 / 10.7 / 11.8 (74)

BEST:
PA - Surjan, Baird, Butcher, Fitzgerald, Carr, AhChee
SA - McGlone, Kenna, Archard, Hateley

GOALS:
PA - Waterhouse 4; Butcher 3; Bullen, M Clayton 2; Surjan, Stevens, Maric, Harry, Jenner, Poulton
SA - Cupido, Warren, Handby 2; Iljecson, Sampson, Wright, Love, Williams

Port Player Reviews:
Waterhouse - Was well held in the first half but had an influence in the second half. Had a lot of the ball but didnt use it overly well until the last quarter when he kicked 3. Ended with 4, pretty good.

Stevens - Very quiet. Kicked a goal in the second quarter but fell in and out of the match all day. Minimal influence

Wanganeen - Did some good things but his skills were a bit down. Changed from pocket to centre. Did some inspirational things including a smother out of nowhere which should have ended in a goal. Would be much better for the run

Jenner - Foot skills are a mixed bag at the moment. Some terrible kicking but took some more good strong marks.

Morrison - Similar to Stevens, minimal influence

Bullen - Kicked two and was solid all day.

Biacsi - Up and down. Room for improvement

Poulton - Similar to Jenner. His kicking is still atrocious at times but he just gets the ball and when he uses it well he damages the opposition.

Carr - Excellent across half back. Had a ton of the ball and used his long kicking well all day

Baird - In this sort of form he will struggle to be beaten all year. Sets up the play well from half back and takes a ton of marks.

DePasquale - Worked well with Carr. Great game

Eichner - Spent most of the match on the bench. Played up forward mainly. Dropped a lot of marks. Better in defence

AhChee - Took some strong defensive marks and had the better of Warren.

Fitzgerald - Becoming one of the most underrated players in the league. Runs straight at the ball, attacks it hard and is a fine player. One of our best today

Maric - Not as dominant as recent matches but still clearly won the ruck. Fed the rovers all day. Took some marks and kicked a goal

M Clayton - Seems to be enjoying being released from defence and into the middle. Had a good match.

Surjan - Clear BOG for mine. In great form at the moment. Getting clearances, finds space all over the park and is using the ball much better than last year.

Meiklejohn - We didnt lose anything when he went into the ruck today. Didnt get a lot of touches.

Lokan - Blanketed Cupido pretty well I thought. Kept him to 2 goals and not much influence

Butcher - Great first quarter in the middle before being moved up forward and kicking 3 goals in 5 minutes. One of the match winners.

Harry - Was busy all day without being overly influential.

[Mr66]

No crowd figure but nevertheless well done.
Anyone doing a West/Norwood review?

[mal]

Mr66

Went to the game.

West came out firing and were aided by umpiring
in the first quarter.
West led 5-2 to 0-4 half way thru the quarter
before a Norwood fight back.
At 3/4 time the game was in the balance.
The umpiring had been in Wests favour all day.
However when it mattered with the game in the
balance Norwood got some lucky umpiring decisions
and won 19-13 to 15-14.

Norwoods best may have been Bailey,Hughes, Dejong
West had Haynes and Fisher do ok.

Norwood look a finals contender.
West although not hopeless look wooden spooners.

There were many unforced errors today
Is it the similar guernsey colours ?

[GWW]

Watched the Port/South game on tv.

Was great to see Surjan in good form again but i dont know if he can carry it over to the AFL until he improves his disposal.

Eichner playing in forward line was a mystery to me..

I think Butcher nearly won Port the game with those 3 goals in time on in 3rd quarter (and to think those Glenelg supporters say he lets himself down with his disposal and finishing off!! )

[Mr66]

Ta! thanks mal.

[spell_check]

What did the ABC have for the total amount of kicks for Port?

The Advertiser has Port at 258 kicks, which is a club record and and equal league record.

[Magpiespower]

Watched the Port/South game on tv.

Was great to see Surjan in good form again but i dont know if he can carry it over to the AFL until he improves his disposal.

Chuck him in defence and then we can excuse it somewhat.

[Jimmy]

macca, how is daniel lees going this year? why didnt he play league?

[portentous]

It's nice to still have dominant midfielders, even with Jeremy Clayton out.

Good effort maggies. Looking forward to Friday night at Norwood now.

BTW another great writeup Macca19.

[Booney]

Great report Macca,do you take notes down while you are there?

Another solid win by the 'Pies,looking forward to the next few weeks.Felt a bit sorry for Eichner who has been one of best in the first two games,spent a lot of time on the bench then only got a "token" run in the forward line in the last qtr.However,a strong line up which would worry the rest of the competition.J.clayton might not fit back in.