TANUNDA was a class above as it defeated South Gawler by 31 points in Saturday’s Barossa, Light & Gawler under 15 qualifying final, on the back of a five-goal haul from Finn Reed.
The teams placed second and third, respectively, but looked as if they were first and ninth in the opening quarter, as the Pies blew the Lions out of the water.
Tanunda took a 26-point lead into quarter-time, and held South scoreless.
The Lions continued to struggle in the second stanza, trailing by 45 points without anything to show for it on the scoreboard.
The Pies took their foot off the gas in the third quarter, and the 45-point margin was cut to 32 points at three-quarter-time.
Despite Tanunda easing off in the second half, South couldn’t claw its way back. While Reed kicked a bag, Brock Wilksch was best on ground and also kicked two majors.
The Lions only had single goal-kickers, with Zac Piddington the best of the bunch.
Tanunda will take on Barossa District this week in the second semi-final for a spot in the grand final.

Central sneaks through

In the battle of the Tigers on Sunday, Gawler Central came out on top of Nuriootpa by one point to narrowly claim the elimination final.
Central entered the match as slight underdogs as it had finished below Nuri on the ladder by one game, but came to play.
Nuri couldn’t find the goals in the opening quarter and was restricted to just one behind to trail by 14 points at the first change.
It soon found its next gear and trimmed the margin to nine points at half-time, before snatching the lead at the final break, much to the shock of Central.
Nuri could only muster two behinds in the final quarter to Central’s one goal though, gifting the match to the Gawler-based Tigers and setting up a local derby in this Sunday’s first semi-final.