DESPITE winning the second half, Yartapuulti went down in a low scoring affair to the Double Blues in the final week of the SANFL’s First Nations Round.

Jeremy Finlayson and Quinton Narkle kicked off proceedings by representing Yartapuulti with a cultural gift exchange, following a moving Welcome to Country.

In slippery conditions at Alberton Oval, goals proved to be a rare commodity with 13 minutes passing before the first goal of the game was kicked by Sturt. The Yartapuulti defence, spearheaded by Tom Clurey, Trent McKenzie, and mid-season draftee Logan Evans remained resolute for the majority of the opening term, trailing by 14 points at the first break.

Coach Hartlett was pleased with his side’s defensive pressure throughout the contest.

“I think definitely the effort and the urgency around the footy to put Sturt under pressure was right there all night, which was good to see," Hartlett said.

"Much better than the last couple of games for sure, and just generally, the defensive intensity was in a better place, much more akin to what we're wanting to see from week to week.”

Leaks began to appear in the Magpies’ defence during the second term, with Sturt taking control of the ball and the inside fifty count. However, despite Sturt’s assertiveness in defence and with ball in hand, their inaccuracy in front of goal, kept Yartapuulti within arm's reach.

“(Finding scores) was probably a little bit to do with conditions although having said that, Sturt had opportunities but just didn't kick straight," Hartlett said.

"For us, I think there's probably a little bit of a disconnect between our midfield and our forwards, and Sturt’s defenders to their credit were very smart at being able to drop off at the right times of their opponents and outnumber in our defensive 50 and that made it really hard for our forwards that we had up there, so some work to do in the forward half.”

The second half saw Yartapuulti halt Sturt’s momentum, with Ollie Lord proving a shining light up forward with two goals. Tom Anastasopoulos and Jordon Sweet were Yartapuulti’s other scoreboard contributors, while Quinton Narkle (20 disposals, six marks) was a stand out in the midfield, with Trent McKenzie (17 disposals, seven marks) and Dylan Williams (18 disposals, nine marks) standing tall in defence. 

“It was really good to see Ollie Lord cover the ground well, get to lots of contests, compete really hard, throw his body around and finish with some goals next to his name," Hartlett said.

"That was really, really pleasing. I thought our defensive group was pretty solid as a back seven.

“Quinton definitely showed how damaging he can be when he plays with good energy and he was good up forward. I thought defensively his intent and his urgency around the footy was really positive and then went to the midfield in the last quarter and was clean and did some did some nice things with the ball in hand as well.”

Yartapuulti will have the bye next week, before taking on West Adelaide at Alberton on Saturday the 15th of June.

Goals: Lord 2, Anastasopoulos, Sweet
Best: Lord, Narkle, McKenzie, Szust, Williams

Scoreboard:
PA 0.1  0.1  3.1  4.3  (27)
Sturt 2.3  4.6  6.11  6.15  (51)