Lewis Johnston has booted seven goals to lead Adelaide to a convincing 71-point win over Sturt in the Club’s opening SANFL trial match at AAMI Stadium on Saturday.
Johnston took several strong contested marks for the SANFL Crows with his sheer size and mobility a weapon throughout the match. The power forward, who turned 23 on Monday, kicked three goals in the opening quarter and was clearly the most dominant forward on the ground.
Coach Heath Younie praised Johnston’s work ethic, rather than his scoreboard impact post-game.
“It wasn’t so much the seven goals that we were happy with, it was more his effort,” Younie said.
“I thought he competed really well, and he just got rewarded for that.”
Although official stats were not taken during the trial, it was clear Brad Crouch was the most prolific midfielder on the ground. In his first game back since overcoming a pre-season Achilles complaint, Crouch moved brilliantly with several eye-catching clearances and bursts from half back.
Sam Kerridge also impressed, taking numerous marks inside 50m and finishing the game with four goals.
Exciting rookie Charlie Cameron set the tone early for Adelaide with two thrilling first-quarter goals and was a constant threat with his pace and pressure up forward. The 19-year-old speedster created many chances to add to his goal tally and could have finished with a bigger haul if not for a few squandered opportunities.
Coach Younie lauded Cameron’s fanatical forward pressure as well as his ability to hit the scoreboard.
“We were really happy with Charlie’s output when he didn’t have the footy,” Younie said.
“We’d love for him to kick more goals, but if we put it into perspective, it’s his first hit out with the other boys.
“But he does look exciting.”
Adelaide moved the ball with great method in the opening half but could not make the most of its opportunities.
The Crows led by 22-points at half time with a late goal to Sturt’s Ziggy Vitkunas keeping the Double Blues in touch, however Adelaide slammed on 11 goals to four in the second half to run away convincing winners.
Development squad player Addison Burns clutched two outstanding contested marks for Adelaide inside 50m and finished with two goals for the day, as did fellow development Crow Gene Robinson who looked dangerous whenever he had ball in hand.
Brent Reilly moved well in his first game since dislocating his shoulder against Gold Coast in Round 14 of last season, sweeping plenty of possession behind the ball across the wing and half back.
Ruckmen Angus Graham and Jack Osborn also performed admirably, with both men giving the Crows midfielders first use.
Former Sturt youngster James Battersby was another who performed well in his first match as a Crow.
State League coach Heath Younie was pleased with the performance of his charges in the team’s first outing of the year.
“We were pretty happy with the way we went about it, the process was more what we were concern about than the outcome,” Younie said.
“Today was just one step forward. No doubt the competition will get tougher each week but we were really happy with how they [the players] went about it.”
The Crows SANFL side will play its second trial match against Woodville West-Torrens on March 22 at 11am at AAMI Stadium.
ADELAIDE 5.3 8.8 12.12 19.18 (132)
STURT 2.2 5.4 8.5 9.7 (61)
GOALS
Adelaide: Johnston 7, Kerridge 4, Robinson 2, Cameron 2, Burns 2, Graham, Osborn,
Sturt: Vitkunas 2, Smith 2, Krause 2, Penfold, Evans, Kelly
BEST
Adelaide: Johnston, Crouch, Kerridge, Burns, Battersby, Callinan, Reilly
Sturt: Wilson, Stephens, Coad, Vitkunas, Penfold
INJURIES
Adelaide: Nil
Sturt: Nil
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