Adelaide went down to Norwood by five points in a SANFL thriller on Friday night at Norwood Oval.
Fourth-quarter battle
Adelaide made a spirited comeback in the final quarter after Norwood had led for most of the match.
Harry Schoenberg booted his first goal midway through the final quarter before skipper Matthew Wright kicked a behind to level the scores.
Elliott Himmelberg then snapped a clutch major to put the Crows in front for the first time.
Himmelberg went on to kick a second goal from outside 50 to put the margin out to 13 points.
But the hosts didn’t lie down and went on to kick the final three goals of the match to snatch a five-point victory.
Adelaide SANFL Senior Coach Michael Godden said he was pleased with his side’s fightback but disappointed with the end result.
“When you are in that situation you just roll the dice, the dice rolls a six, we couldn’t have done a whole lot more,” Godden said.
“Another 20 seconds we might have done exactly the same to them.”
Newchurch keeps Adelaide alive
The wet conditions suited small forward Tariek Newchurch who proved to be the Crows’ main avenue to goal.
The youngster used his speed and agility to kick three first-half majors and help Adelaide remain in striking distance of Norwood.
“Tariek is an opportunist type player and these conditions the ball wasn’t really zipping around,” Godden said.
“It makes it hard for him to find space, but he took the most of his opportunities which we were really proud of him for.”
Strachan continues strong form
In his return to the SANFL, ruckman Kieran Strachan continued his strong form on his way to 42-hitouts.
Strachan also played an important role in slowing the Redlegs’ rebound from Adelaide’s forward 50, taking multiple pack marks.
Strachan finished the game with 15 disposals, seven marks – four contested – six tackles and five clearances.
“I was really happy with Strachany,” Godden said.
“It’s been an emotional week for him, he obviously had a good performance last week in the AFL and then lost his spot.
“You’ve got to move with it and he did.
“He came out tonight against a really good ruckmen in Boyd, (who is) the State ruckman and they had a great battle.”
Midfield applies the pressure
Harry Schoenberg led from the front as one of Adelaide’s major ball winners with 21 disposals, six tackles and five clearances.
“Harry, I thought played a really good brand of footy tonight,” Godden said.
“He’s been really good since he’s been with us.
“He was a leader out there, he was competitive, he used the ball well, but most importantly he embraced what it was, which was just a fight.”
Jay Boyle and Josh Smithson provided plenty of support for Schoenberg, playing a contested brand of footy to help win the ball out of the centre.
Boyle had 19 disposals, 11 tackles and five clearances, while Smithson finished with 15 touches, eight tackles and nine clearances.
Back six stand tall
Adelaide’s defence, including Billy Frampton, James Borlase and Josh Worrell, stood tall to hold Norwood to 17 scoring shots from 41 inside 50s.
“That first quarter they held really strong particularly because we were playing the game in our back half and they were strong in the air and on the ground,” Godden said.
“Once we started to get control from quarter time onwards it gave them more time to set up behind the ball and then kept repelling it.”
Patrick Parnell provided some pace off the backline and finished with 19 disposals and seven marks.
Adelaide’s SANFL side takes on Sturt at Adelaide Oval on Saturday at 4.30pm.
The match will follow the Club’s AFL game against West Coast at 1.15pm.
ADELAIDE: 1.2 4.4 6.5 9.8 (62)
NORWOOD: 3.1 6.3 7.5 10.7 (67)
GOALS:
Adelaide: Newchurch 3, Himmelberg 2, McAsey, Borlase, Gollant, Schoenberg.
Norwood: Panos 4, McLean 2, Nelligan, Jarvis, Kennerley, Lowe.
