Print this pageFOOTBALL icon John Cahill made a stunning return to the game yesterday when South Adelaide started the season with a shock 14-point win against Glenelg at Noarlunga. New Panthers coach Cahill couldn't keep the smile off his face after the game, knowing a win on his debut would give him, the players and the club - down and just about out in eighth spot last year - a much-needed boost of confidence.
Cahill seemed to surprise even himself when his tough team fought off the challenging Tigers to clinch victory.
However, the ever composed Cahill said this impressive start would not dictate the rest of the season.
"Of course we'll still have ups and downs," he said.
"But this will give everyone a lot of confidence and the supporters something to be happy about."
And pleased they should be. Despite having a severely depleted team - most noticeably in the ruck - the Panthers managed to dominate the game by forcing the Tigers to turn over the ball again and again.
The contest was much tighter than many expected, with the scoreboard reflecting that with scores tied five times during the clash.
The Tigers failed to capitalise on any marginal lead they gained, the most of which was 13 points in the second quarter.
The Bays' greatest weakness was arguably their lack of discipline. Too many unforced errors and free kicks given away killed Glenelg in the forward line but more importantly in spirit.
Add to this the devastation of debutant Todd Grima being reported in the third quarter for allegedly striking a firing Josh Thewlis and coach Mark Mickan did not have much to smile about.
The look of disdain on his face was a stark contrast to the elation on Cahill's.
"What we know is we can win a lot of the ball from the middle of the ground but we were struggling to score despite the amount of opportunities we had," Mickan said.
"Discipline is certainly one of our issues . . . and there was a severe lack of efficiency."
But it wasn't so much Glenelg being disappointing as South being impressive and classy on the field.
Captain Jason Torney led by example, snagging 13 highly effective kicks and 10 marks.
He was joined in the spotlight by another mature member of the squad, Ian Prendergast, who together held up the backline with force and flair.
Young gun Andy Otten, 18, was a firecracker in the midfield and fed the ball well to the likes of Denis Iljcesen, who scored the first goal of the last quarter to all but secure South's first two premiership points.
"We've got a lot of young, inexperienced players who shaped up well against a mighty team of three or four years in Glenelg," Cahill said.
"I thought our tackling and commitment was really good.
"The players showed they would never give up."
Courtesy of AdelaideNow
Story by Candice Keller