From Snoutslouts
At the end of the 1954 Minor Round the SANFL arranged with the (then) VFL that South Melbourne would play an "Electric Light" (ie night) match against a SA side. Selection of which side would play against South Melbourne was to be determined by playing a knockout competition between teams out of the SANFL major round. The first round comprised games of four 20 minute quarters between Sturt vs Glenelg, and North vs South. All matches were played at Norwood Oval.
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| Knockout Competition Friday 10 September 1954
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| Sturt:
| 2.5
| 3.10
| 5.11
| 10.16 (76)
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| Glenelg: | 5.4 | 6.6 | 11.6 | 11.7 (73)
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Goalkickers
Sturt - Caust 5.1; Fitzgerald 3.1; Murray, Rattigan each 1.0; Pike 0.5; Sims, Boland each 0.3; F. Tester, 0.1; rushed 0.2.
Glenelg - Potter 4.1; May 3.0; Wickham 2.0; Guy 1.1; Crabb 1.0; Davies 0.2; D. Rundle, King each 0.1; rushed 0.1.
Best
Sturt - Fitzgerald. Harbison, Shanks, Sims, Pike, Boland.
Glenelg - Crabb, Wickham, Guy, Baillie, Potter, Davies.
Crowd: 5,700 at Norwood Oval.
Match Report from The Advertiser
Sturt, South Win Way To Knockout Final
By KEITH BUTLER
A crowd of 5,700 watched the two games, the first of which started at 7 p.m. The majority of players were taking part in their first game under electric lights and in most instances they experienced some difficulty in judging and kicking the white ball. Sturt staged a remarkable recovery to beat Glenelg in the closing minutes of the opening match, which was easily the better of the two from a football spectacle.
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So atrocious was Sturt's kicking for goal against Glenelg that after having one more shot, it found itself trailing by eight points at half time. Although Fitzgerald was able to cut holes in the Glenelg defence with his clever position play, Sturt was having a great deal of bother in holding the Glenelg ruck and in keeping Guy in check at half-forward right. In the third quarter, Glenelg threatened to make the game a one-sided finish when it raced away after kicking five goals straight to lead by 31 points at the last change. Sturt, however, made a winning move when it alternated with May and Rattigan in the ruck and placed Pike at centre half-forward. With Harrison a clear-cut winner at centre and Shanks on top at centre wing, Sturt, although still off the target, cut down the leeway and with five minutes to go was only three points down. Then, in a desperate finish, Rattigan kicked Sturt's winning goal in the time-on period.
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References
1. The Advertiser Thursday 2 September 1954
2. The Advertiser Saturday 11 September 1954
