IN a rematch of last year’s grand final, Tanunda travelled to Angaston and were greeted by enough rain to turn the affair into an old-fashioned wet weather slog.
Angaston player-coach Jay Shannon said his side hadn’t been up to par in recent weeks, but he welcomed the trying conditions as an opportunity for its inside players to make their mark on the way to a 11.13 (79) to 6.5 (41) final score.
“We started to win some contested footy – I think the last couple of weeks we’ve probably been second to the ball – but it was wet weather footy and we handled it a lot better,” he said.
“We’ve got some players who are quite clean inside, and we’re not overly quick, so we like the smaller ovals and congested footy.
“We hadn’t done that part of the game well the past couple of weeks, so we’ve been getting beat inside and outside the contest, but it was a good time to get a wet weather game so it forced us to
really get on top in the middle.”
Angaston controlled most of the play in the first quarter, but shallow, wayward entries inside- 50 gave the Magpies an opportunity to counter-attack with regularity, with the hosts taking
a 2.3 (15) to 1.2 (8) lead into the quarter break.
The game began opening up in the second term with the Panthers kicking 4.3 to Tanunda’s 3.3, giving the former a 13-point lead at the half.
It was anyone’s game going into the third, but it was Angaston that seized the momentum on the back of excellent play across halfback by Matt Blenkiron and Jack Miles, who repelled attack after attack with strong intercept marks.
Shannon said good things started to happen when the Panthers were able to get the ball in their key players’ hands.
“Jayden Antonie, Steve Summerton and Steve Rusca were all pretty good through the middle of the ground with their effectiveness going forward,” he said.
“So when we got the ball in those guys’ hands, and Scott Lewis, they used it cleanly and we made the most of our inside- 50s, which then took away their rebound game as well.”
Finishing was still a problem for the Panthers, who kicked 2.6 in the quarter while the Magpies kicked one goal from its only scoring shot to head into the final quarter with a 60-35 margin.
Angaston again held Tanunda to a single scoring shot in the last – a goal – while controlling the play and nabbing three more for its own tally to push the final score out to a margin that
reflected the dominant nature of the game – particularly the second half.