Round 16 2006
From Snoutslouts
Round 16
GLENELG remains on track for finals action after disposing of West Adelaide by 85 points at Glenelg Oval last Saturday.
On the back a seven-goal performance from wingman Justin McConnell, the Tigers eventually broke free of a determined West outfit in the last quarter, kicking 11.3 to 0.2.
Despite the final scoreline, the match was hotly contested between the two sides for the first three quarters, with West jumping out to a three-goal lead at quarter time. But Glenelg's class eventually shone through, with the likes of Richard Douglas (21 possessions and four goals), Brett Backwell (42 possessions and 1 goal) and Ben Mules (30 possessions and 2 goals) dominant.
Bryce Gibbs also had a solid game, under the watchful eye of Kangaroos coach Dean Laidley, but it was the performance of McConnell which drew praise from coach Mark Mickan.
“He was terrific, seven goals off the wing, you don't see that very often,” he said. ``He's been a really good acquisition for us this year and been a really positive influence around the club.”
The Tigers have a great opportunity to push even higher up the ladder in the next few weeks with games against Port Adelaide, fellow finals aspirant Norwood and lowly Sturt all winnable.
If it can keep its momentum up with a win over Port this week, which has lost four of its past six matches, the Tigers will move into contention for third spot which will give the club the double chance come finals time.
However, Mickan refused to look further than this week's clash with the Magpies.
“We don't really want to be too concerned with what other teams are doing,” he said. “We've just got to keep winning enough games ourselves.
“We haven't beaten Port this year, Norwood beat us in the first round and Sturt beat us too, so we don't see it as any easy games coming up.”
SCORES: Glenelg 3.4 10.7 16.9 28.12 (180) defeated West Adelaide 6.2 9.6 14.9 14.11 (95).
BEST: Glenelg – McConnell, Douglas, Backwell, Mules, Mitchell; West – Porplyzia, Glover, C. Slattery, Haynes, Dragicevic.
GOALS: Glenelg – McConnell 7, Douglas, Duldig 4, Graham, Kirk, Rogers, Ruwoldt, Mules 2, Kirkby, Backwell, Moore; West – Welsh, Porplyzia 3, Haynes 2, Jericho, Buckley, Donaldson, O'Sullivan, Dragicevic, Hollands.
