Christies Beach won their third game of 2021 to keep themselves within striking distance of the top-five in the Southern Football League (SFL) following their tight nine-point win against Morphett Vale at Bice Oval. The first half was closely-fought with ‘Christies’ leading by seven points at the long break, thanks largely to kicking an accurate 7.1 (43) to the Emus 5.6 (36). The Saints kicked five goals to two in the ‘premiership quarter’ to take a very handy 22-point lead at the last change. Morphett Vale tried hard in the final term but Christies Beach stayed strong to win 13.3 (81) to 10.12 (72). Blake Carter kicked five goals for the Saints to give him 22 for the season while Jared Greenbank slotted three majors for the Emus. Best for ‘Christies’ were Jacob Crate, Carter, Nathan Stock, Brad Truscott and Aidan Coakley. Morphett Vale were best served by Daniel Earl, Greenbank, Max Sampson, Bodie Sowter and Jack Dal Santo.

Flagstaff Hill cruised to their 23rd consecutive ‘A’ grade victory with a convincing 100-point win at home against Port Noarlunga. The last time the Falcons tasted defeat was way back on 7 September 2019 in the second semi-final against Noarlunga. The final scores were Flagstaff Hill 17.14 (116) to Port Noarlunga 2.4 (16). Ryan Mountford continued his good goal kicking form with five majors, giving him 35 goals for the season so far. Mitchell Johnson chimed in with three goals for ‘Flaggies’ as well. Clinton Calyun kicked the only two goals for the Cockle Divers. Best players for the reigning premiers were Chris Puiatti, Matthew Walton, Nash Mitchell, Cooper Gilbert and Tynan Carney. Among the best for Port Noarlunga were Matthew Coulthard, Jordan Zeitz and Dylan Williams.

Reynella consolidated second spot with a grinding 22-point win against fellow finals aspirant Noarlunga at Reynella Oval. It was a low scoring first half with the Wine Flies taking a handy 21-point lead to halftime as they led 4.4 (28) to 1.1 (7). The game opened up a bit in the third quarter with each team kicking three goals as the Shoes reduced the margin to 14 points at the last change. Noarlunga could easily have been closer but for kicking an inaccurate 3.7 for the term. Reynella steadied in the last quarter to kick three goals to two and win 10.6 (66) to 6.8 (44). Kieran Powell and Bailey Marshman both kicked three goals for Reynella while Callum Gspari also kicked three majors for the Shoes. James Smith, Dylan Roser, Tyler Davies, Josh Frisby and Liam Reid were named as best players for Reynella while for Noarlunga, Nathan Schulz, Jake Anderson, Shane Stagg, and Gaspari were their best players.

Happy Valley won their fifth game of the season with a low-scoring 29-point victory over Cove at Happy Valley. The visitors started well to lead by a point at quarter time. Happy Valley came out hard in the second term to kick four goals to one and took a handy 21-point lead to the long break. The second half was a real scrap with just three goals scored before the Vikings won 8.13 (61) to 4.8 (32). Ben Geytenbeek kicked three goals for the winners to put him on top of the SFL goal kicking list with 36 majors so far in 2021. Josh Dwyer Sterzl also kicked three goals for the Vikings. Ryan Need and Jayden Morton kicked two goals each for the Cobras. Johnny Pegoraro, Ben Ryan, Tom Barrett, Scott Rademacher and Matthew Lillis were named best for Happy Valley while Alex Marra, Need and Ben Pittard were among Cove’s best.

Aldinga had the bye.

Ladder after Round 11

Flagstaff Hill 20, Reynella 18, Noarlunga 12, Happy Valley 10, Morphett Vale 8, Christies Beach 6, Cove 6, Port Noarlunga 4, Aldinga 4.

Round 12 Fixtures (home team named first)

Cove v Reynella

Aldinga v Christies Beach

Noarlunga v Flagstaff Hill

Port Noarlunga v Happy Valley

Morphett Vale has the bye