Something a bit different but still in the theme of “sticks”, the big white sticks in fact, being the goalposts.  Sturt Double Blues hosted North Adelaide Roosters at Thomas Farms Oval (Unley Oval) on 19/07/2026.  Sturt was positioned within the top 5 on the ladder of the 10 team competition with North Adelaide in th bottom 3, and Sturt was highly favoured to record another win at home at the picturesque oval.  North Adelaide, kicking to the southern end in a very light negligible breeze, had other ideas and managed to convert several forays into their forward 50m, despite a close start to the game.  Sturt on the other hand were stymied many times.  At the first break the Roosters had kicked 5 goals and 5 behinds, to be 35 points against the Double Blues 15 points from 2 goals and 3 behinds.

In the second quarter the Sturt faithful remained silent as time and time again their shots on goal, the first 4, resulted in behind after behind and their scoreline started looking very sick.  However, the Double Blues managed to stem the flow of goals from the Roosters and restricted them to a miserly 2 points, while kicking the only goal of the quarter themselves very late in the quarter!  At the main long break, the Roosters held the lead on 37 points, to the Double Blues 28 points, coming from 3 goals, 10 behinds!  The Double Blues would need to correct the inaccuracy kicked for goal.

The 3rd period saw the Roosters make use of the supposed scoring end to the south managed to continue to frustrate the Double Blues defence as they piled on another 4 goals.  However, things started to click for the Double Blues late in the quarter.  They would need to be within about a goal to mount a challenge.  Those that know Sturt, know they are notorious for climbing over the top of opposition teams when playing at home and only trailing by a small margin.  The Double Blues had managed to kick better, kicking 4 goals, 3 behinds to the northern end to now only trail by 8 points.  Score was now North Adelaide 9G:9B:63 points to Sturt’s 7G:13B: 55 points.  Sturt had momentum which was ominous for the visitors.

The 4th quarter started with a goal inside the first minute and with a behind kicked and a rushed behind the scores were level at the 4:50 mark.  Would the Roosters have enough left in the tank to get the noses back in front and score an upset?  The next two goals were scored by both teams so the score remained tied at the 10:08 mark.  Then the Sturt machine started to click as the sun started to head low in the sky, and Joshua Hone and Tom Emmett scored with Emmett scoring his hat trick to put Sturt well in front.  The Roosters struggled to get the ball into their half, as many times as Sturt managed in their own half.  A rushed behind and 2 behinds kicked is all that the Roosters could manage, whereas the Double Blues kicked another goal to stamp their authority on the game and come away with the 4 points for the win.  Final score was Sturt Double Blues 12G : 15 B: 87 points to the North Adelaide Roosters 10G : 12B: 72 points.  With other results from the weekend saw Sturt remain ahead of Woodville-West Torrens Eagles (both on 18 points on the ladder) with a better percentage.  Glenelg Tigers remained on top of the ladder with a healthy 61 point win over South Adelaide Panthers, and the Adelaide Crows held off the vastly improved West Adelaide Bloods to remain in 2nd on the ladder.

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