It was a weekend of close finishes and upsets during round four action in the Southern Football League (SFL) with Port Noarlunga winning their first game of the season, while Reynella went a game clear on top of the ladder. Port Noarlunga upset the more fancied Morphett Vale by three points after clinging on to win 9.5 (59) to 7.14 (56). The Cockle Divers got off to a fantastic start as they kicked 7.2 (44) to 2.1 (13) in the opening term to lead by 31 points at quarter time. Morphett Vale hit back hard in the second stanza to reduce the margin to eight points at halftime. The Emus kicked 2.4 to 1.2 in the third term as the game was tied up with a quarter to go. ‘Porties’ kicked the only goal of the final quarter while Morphett Vale continued their inaccurate day and could only manage four behinds. Dylan Williams was a star up forward for Port Noarlunga with five majors while Ashley Baxter kicked two goals in a best on ground performance for the Cockle Divers. Denis Iljcesen continued his good goal scoring form with five goals himself, while Daniel Bode was named best player for the Emus.

Happy Valley won their second game on the trot with a thrilling three-point away win against Noarlunga. Happy Valley made full use of the breeze in the first quarter as they kicked 6.2 to 0.1 and led by 37 points at quarter time. The home side hit back in the second term as they kicked five goals to zero with Happy Valley clinging to a five-point lead at halftime. Happy Valley pushed ahead again in the third term to lead by 16 points at the last change but with the Shoes coming home to the scoring end in the last term, it was game on. Noarlunga managed five goals in the final term but Happy Valley bucked the trend of the day to kick three majors of their own to win 13.7 (85) to 12.10 (82). Jack Flett, in his first game of 2021, kicked five goals for the Vikings while Ben Geytenbeek kicked four to give him 17 for the season. Nathan Schulz and Vic Robertson kicked three goals each for the Shoes. Johnny Pegoraro, Scott Rademacher, Dwayne Ruddock, Liam O’Connor and Flett were named in the best players for the Vikings. For Noarlunga, Jake Anderson, Brayden Wait and Tailen Hobson were among their best players.

Cove won their second game of 2021 and moved up to fourth spot on the SFL ladder following an 11-point victory against Christies Beach at Cove on Saturday. The game was tight all day with Cove leading by nine points at quarter time, one point at halftime and six points at the last change before they kicked 2.7 to 2.2 in the final term to win 12.23 (95) to 12.12 (84). Jayden Morton (3), Justin Wicks (2), Ben Charlesworth (2) and Jake Williams (2) were the multiple goalkickers for the victorious Cobras. Keelan Boehm played a lone hand up forward for the Saints as he jagged nine goals to give him 15 for the season so far. Michael Galley, Ryan Need, Morton, Scott Grieve and James Farrugia were named best for Cove while Shaun King, Boehm and Mark Larritt were best for Christies.

Reynella continued their winning ways to move a game clear on top of the ladder following a convincing 91-point win at Aldinga. After a tight opening quarter saw Reynella lead by just five points, the visitors poured on the pressure to kick 18 goals to five in the last three quarters to win 21.13 (139) to 7.6 (48). Reynella shared the goals around with Bailey Marshman, Dylan Roser and Josh Frisby leading the way with three majors each. Timmy Sumner and Zhaidyn Hamdorf each kicked two goals for the Sharks. Kieran Powell, Frisby, Kaleb Wilden, Roser and Marshman were best for the Wine Flies while for Aldinga it was Angus Stangewitz, Tyler Flintham and the consistent Michael Balas leading the way. 

Flagstaff Hill had the bye.

Ladder after Round 4

Reynella 8, Flagstaff Hill 6, Happy Valley 4, Cove 4, Morphett Vale 2, Noarlunga 2, Christies Beach 2, Aldinga 2, Port Noarlunga 2.

Round 5 Fixtures (Home team named first)

Aldinga v Noarlunga

Cove v Flagstaff Hill

Happy Valley v Christies Beach

Morphett Vale v Reynella (Sunday)

Port Noarlunga has the bye