THE Norwood hoodoo continues to haunt Port Adelaide at The Parade after the Magpies’ errant final term kicking and a goal less third term put paid to a strong opening half on Saturday afternoon.
Despite facing a 15-point deficit midway through the final quarter, two crucial centre square clearances led to late goals to Dougal Howard and John Butcher to narrow Norwood's lead within a point.
But the clock ultimately won out and the Magpies were punished for a poor third term performance where they failed to kick a goal.
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The Magpies are now forced to face the diminishing prospect of a double chance as the Redlegs, Eagles and Bloods push further ahead atop the ladder.
Port Adelaide held its feet in early wet and windy conditions, with a midfield led by Aaron Young, Steve Summerton and Tom Logan battling hard to create opportunities at the stoppages.
While goals were tough to come by in the slippery conditions thanks to a burst of pre-game rain, the Magpies managed three majors for the first half, while keeping Norwood goal less.
However, a scuffle which began just before half time after the Magpies' Anthony Biemans was sighted for a high tackle, angered the Redlegs and saw them fire out of the blocks in the third term.
The home side's midfield had Port Adelaide's rattled and the Magpies could not get near the ball.
On the odd occasions they did, the Redlegs gave them no room to move.
Norwood booted four unanswered majors in the third term - two of those to small forward Kane Murphy - which helped claim a 12-point advantage at the final break.
The Magpies worked hard to get back into the contest in the final quarter and their midfielders began to win the ball out of the centre again.
While Nathan Krakouer saved several attempts by the Redlegs in defence by sweeping the ball up and kicking it back out towards the Magpies' scoring end, Norwood’s own backline stood up and put pressure on Port Adelaide's forwards who were unable to capitalise inside 50.
Port Adelaide now faces the prospect of missing out on a top three spot and a double chance in finals while facing pressure from South Adelaide and Central District for the final two spots in the top five.
The Magpies will play the first-placed Woodville-West Torrens next Saturday 18 July at Woodville Oval at 2.10pm.
ACADEMY: Seconds surging into top five
LEAGUE SCOREBOARD
PORT ADELAIDE 2.3 3.4 3.4 6.9 (45)
NORWOOD 0.0 0.5 4.5 6.10 (46)
PORTADELAIDEFC.COM.AU’S BEST
Summerton, Krakouer, Young, Logan, Mitchell
GOALS
Palmer, Butcher 2, Logan, Howard
INJURIES
nil
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ACADEMY REPORT
PORT Adelaide's Academy side won a thriller against Norwood's reserves by 14 points earlier in the day.
The Magpies were led up forward by Luke Reynolds who continued his consistent form and booted five goals towards the win, which cements the Academy in the reserves top five.
It was a massive scalp for the young Magpies as they strive for their first finals berth since the Academy's inception in 2014.
Port Adelaide faced a narrow four-point deficit at the main break, but fought back hard to claim a nine-point lead at three-quarter time.
Despite allowing the Redlegs to get within four points early in the final term, the Magpies dug deep and worked hard at each stoppage to win the match.
The win/loss ledger against Norwood this year is in the Port Adelaide Academy side's favour, after beating the Redlegs by a goal last month.
Academy coach Mark Clayton was proud of his side's efforts and is confident they can hand the Eagles' reserves their first loss for the season next weekend.
"We had about five changes this week compared to the last time we played Norwood, so it's great that those guys can come in, play a role and get the job done," Clayton said.
"Reynolds was outstanding and he has probably been one of our consistent players and him with Tom Corcoran have been awesome for us.
"We have a massive game next week, the Eagles haven't lost a game yet, but we are in form and it will be a big test for us, but I think our guys are ready."
ACADEMY SCOREBOARD
PORT ADELAIDE 4.0 5.2 8.5 11.7 (73)
NORWOOD 3.1 6.1 7.2 9.5 (59)
PORTADELAIDEFC.COM.AU’S BEST
Corcoran, Reynolds, Proude
GOALS
Reynolds 5, Cooper, Gordon, Mahney, Miller, Proude, Williams
