SANFL powerhouse Central Districts are out of the finals race after North Adelaide reversed a long losing streak Sunday at AAMI Stadium.
West Adelaide booked a berth in the Second Semi-Final with a hard-fought seven-point win against Woodville-West Torrens in Sunday’s Qualifying Final.
Despite trailing by 27 points at half-time, the Bloods surged after the main change to kick the next five goals in succession to breathe life into the contest.
Riding on the back of key midfielders Travis Tuck (24 disposals, 13 clearances, three goals), Chris Schmidt (25 disposals) and Ben Macreadie (22 disposals), Andy Collins’ charges were again able to find something in the last quarter.
When an unusually inaccurate Matthew Goldsworthy kicked his first goal of the game from five shots 10 minutes into the fourth term, the Eagles had established a 10-point lead.
But when courageous West skipper Ryan Ferguson – who kicked his side’s first goal of the last quarter – went down with concussion 14 minutes in, his team-mates appeared to lift another notch.
Play stopped for five minutes while the Fos Williams Medallist was stretchered from the field sporting a neck brace, giving the Bloods a chance to regroup.
And while their on-field leader – who has been diagnosed with concussion since being rushed to hospital – was missing, the likes of Tuck stood up when it mattered most.
The former Hawthorn midfielder did his chances of being redrafted no harm by kicking two of this three majors in the last 10 minutes of the match, the first of which was a clever snap in traffic from 35m.
By the time Eagles defender Campbell Heath kicked a goal after the final siren, his side was left to contemplate facing a rampaging North Adelaide outfit in next Sunday’s First Semi-Final at AAMI Stadium.
Eagles coach Michael Godden was left to lament his side’s inability to apply serious scoreboard pressure to West despite finishing with eight more scoring shots and 10 more inside 50s.
Former Fremantle livewire Chris Hall was one of the few Eagles without a blemish on the score sheet after booting four classy goals while Goldsworthy (1.4) and Power-listed Nick Salter (1.4) were the chief offenders in front of the big sticks.
The only upside for the Eagles is a clean bill of health, with former Crows rookie Jake von Bertouch a candidate to replace Power-listed Heath, who is now unavailable for the rest of the season after being ruled out by his AFL club.
On the flip side for the Bloods, another former Crow in Brad Moran has been ruled out with injury for the rest of the year after injuring his hamstring in the first half.
Collins has declared Moran will resume his role as ruck coach while suggesting Ferguson would be ‘’unlikely’’ to play against Norwood in next Sunday’s Second Semi-Final at AAMI Stadium.
North Adelaide has extended coach Josh Francou’s tenure at Prospect in emphatic fashion, smashing Central District by 62 points.
Set up by a five-goal-to-three third term into a commanding wind, the Roosters’ win was their first in six weeks since defeating South Adelaide in Round 17.
Francou – who on Monday announced he would be accepting a development role with AFL club Sydney – demanded a lift from his midfield unit leading into the cut-throat clash.
And this was exactly what the former Power star got with Cohen Thiele (26 disposals), Nick Amato (26), Max Thring (25) and Jay Shannon (22) all lifting their output.
Former Swan Nathan Gordon (23 disposals) was another Rooster to turn around his quiet form, working hard further up the ground while also having an impact on the scoreboard with 3.4.
Joint vice-captain Todd Miles (20 disposals, 20 hitouts) was preferred as first ruckman ahead of former Crow James Craig, a move from Francou which paid dividends as the former Eagle made his presence felt around the ground as well as the stoppages.
Another ploy from Francou was to play virtual unknown Brian Fenton, who was employed as a physical enforcer while tagging Central star Brayden O’Hara.
Playing just his first league game this season and fourth overall, Fenton continually smashed into O’Hara to unsettle the Bulldogs’ gun midfielder.
As a result, O’Hara was largely unable to impact the contest in his 100th league match, managing 16 disposals and a goal.
Despite trailing at quarter-time, North kicked two important goals late in the opening term to keep them in touch with the Bulldogs.
Desperate to atone for last year’s straight-sets finals exit, the Dogs looked hungry early as they peppered the goals with the aid of the strong breeze favouring the southern end.
But their inability to kick a goal during the second term proved costly as Magarey Medal favourite James Boyd was playing a virtual lone hand in the midfield.
Boyd finished with a game-high 30 disposals and 10 clearances but he received little support from his team-mates as the Roosters gained confidence the longer the match went.
North gained control of the contest during the premiership term, with veteran Leigh Ryswyk (four goals) starting to prove a handy foil for AFL-listed key forwards Lewis Johnston (three goals) and Daniel Stewart (two goals).
It was red-and-white party time in the fourth quarter as North piled on nine goals to stretch the margin close to the 88-points it beat the Dogs by in last year’s first semi-final.
The loss was Central’s third in succession in the major round and seemingly came out of the blue considering the Roy Laird’s men just finished outside of the top three on percentage.
SCOREBOARD
North 2.1 6.7 11.10 20.16 (136) Central 4.6 4.9 7.13 10.14 (74)
BEST – North: Thiele, Gordon, Amato, Miles, M. Thring, Ryswyk, Johnston, Shannon, Fenton. Central: Boyd, Thomas, Callinan, Goodrem.
GOALS – North: Ryswyk 4, Johnston, Gordon 3, Stewart, Thiele 2, Blee, M. Thring, Shannon, O’Sullivan, Campbell, Langford. Central: Habel, Callinan 2, Boyd, O’Hara, Prior, J. Schiller, Waldhuter, Hardy.
INJURIES – North: Campbell (leg). Central: Reichert (knee).
UMPIRES – Tony Dey, Corey Bowen, Leigh Haussen. At AAMI Stadium
West 2.1 3.4 9.4 14.5 (89) Eagles 2.3 7.7 8.12 11.16 (82)
BEST – West: Tuck, Schmidt, Macreadie, Hill, Slattery, Tippett, Mangan. Eagles: Poole, Powell, Hall, Heath, Jarrad.
GOALS – West: Tuck 3, Slattery, Ferguson, Bonney 2, Hill, Fielke, Bricknell, Beech, Hartlett. Eagles: Hall 4, Poole 3, Powell, Heath, Goldsworthy, Salter.
INJURIES – West: Ferguson (concussion), Moran (hamstring). Eagles: Raymond (cut head).
UMPIRES – Theron Philp, Toby Medlin, Andrew Crosby.
At AAMI Stadium
