SA Footy

Dont remember the exact score. Eagles won comfortably in the end.

Mainly scored to the Southern end, both teams.

Port dominant in the first quarter with buthcer a focal point and Lokan good in the back half but the efficient Eagles went forward 5 times for 4 goals and Port led, narrowly.

Second quarter the Eagles dominated with Scott Lewis running amok and the Magpies, apart from a magic John Butcher soccer goal were over run.

Third quarter, Port got back on top but failed to capatalise. Maric was solid, Lewis again got lots of it. Port couldnt put the Eags' away.

Last quarter, Eagles to the scoring end , Powell went nuts, Vince went to full forward and out classed hit opponents and the Eags' win by about 4 goals.

( Im sure some will put the scores up )

Eagles - Lewis, Powell, Parry ( beat Miekeljohn and Maric ), DaY, McKenzie

Port - Dolling, Slattery.

Little pissed, sorry if my report has been poor.

I don't bother to write the scores down now; such as the poor publication the Budget is nowadays, it puts me off. But from memory, they were:
Eagles 4.0 9.1 10.4 15.7 (97)
Port 5.2 6.3 10.6 12.6 (78)

Much better match to watch than last week. And funnily enough, this contest went the same way as all last three matches did last year. We gain a lead, Port claw back and lead by a few points at lemons, then we would finish the better in the last.

Goldsworthy and Rowntree were tough buggers today; put the body on the line a number of times and won the footy a lot. McKenzie wasn't allowed free reign like he had last week, but every thing he did except one poor handball was outstanding. Treeby should be our permanent full forward from now on, because he doesn't attract attention like Hentschel does or Welsh last year. The move by Vince to the forward lines in the last, paid off too.

And thankfully the runners for Port (Milera x 2 in particular) did not harm our slower players as much as I thought they would. They still played well, however. Once again the tenacity of the Port players can only be admired - if the Power had their fight, they would win more.

Tough game today and happy to come away with the win.

Enjoyed pointing out to one Port fan who liked referring to the Eags as an amalgamated club that Port are also a merged club these days. Don't think my help was appreciated very much.

Booney, I'd suggest you change the title of this thread to remove the def as some people don't like it in the title...

Big Phil wrote:Booney, I'd suggest you change the title of this thread to remove the def as some people don't like it in the title...

Very picky tonight BP, if ppl don't like it, then harden up a bit.

prowling panther wrote:

Big Phil wrote:Booney, I'd suggest you change the title of this thread to remove the def as some people don't like it in the title...

Very picky tonight BP, if ppl don't like it, then harden up a bit.

Mate, it's not me at all, I don't give 2 hoots about what is said in the title - I was just advising Booney that others (not myself) might comment on the fact they don't like it.

Big Phil wrote:
Mate, it's not me at all, I don't give 2 hoots about what is said in the title - I was just advising Booney that others (not myself) might comment on the fact they don't like it.

I know its not you, but the others should harden up a bit.

Great game to watch today. Port very admirable in defeat and IMO did enough to suggest they could easily be around the mark at the end of the year.

Anyway I thought it was a great team performance by the eagles with most players contributing at different stages.

Staple - best game I have seen him play for the club. Played much like Grocke does by leading out hard and roaming around the forward line. A bit short to play as the key forward but will be handy if he can hold his form today when Grocke (and Salter) come back.

Rowntree - did some tough things and got plenty of the ball. I like how he goes about it.

Lewis/Powell/McKenzie/Jarrad - all played to their usual high standard.

Almond - Another player to played one of his best matches for the club. Needs to maintain his form.

Treeby - whenever he plays as a permanent forward (like he did for much of today) he always seems to kick a couple of goals. I hope he permanently plays there from now on with only an occasional run on the ball because his fitness base is not up to the level required for a full match in the middle.

Well another hard fought character building win by the eagles (and yes i stole that from the eagles coach after the game back at the club )
And for those that say I am a bad winner (well yes i am ) well done Port Adelaide .You played a great game today and look to have improved a lot since last year .
To the ABC perhaps you should have shown this game on TV .It was a close hard fought game worthy to be on the telly !!
And I think the crowd was 3000 or so .

So many highlights to many to mention but here's two
1 Luke Powell he took over from Cica today and even kicked 2 goals in a quarter.Not sure if he had kicked 2 in a game let alone in a quarter before.
2 Leigh Treeby taking a specky mark.Didnt know Leigh could fly

Cheers

Big Phil wrote:

prowling panther wrote:

Big Phil wrote:Booney, I'd suggest you change the title of this thread to remove the def as some people don't like it in the title...

Very picky tonight BP, if ppl don't like it, then harden up a bit.

Mate, it's not me at all, I don't give 2 hoots about what is said in the title - I was just advising Booney that others (not myself) might comment on the fact they don't like it.

What about Port did not def. The Eagles!

CENTURION wrote: What about Port did not def. The Eagles!

Pay that one

Mickyj wrote:So many highlights to many to mention but here's two
1 Luke Powell he took over from Cica today and even kicked 2 goals in a quarter.Not sure if he had kicked 2 in a game let alone in a quarter before.
2 Leigh Treeby taking a specky mark.Didnt know Leigh could fly

Cheers

Powell has only been a multiple goalscorer twice before in his 157 game career - 3.2 vs Port in Round 8 2005 and 2.0 vs North in that fiery encounter last year.
And probably is another reason why Treeby should be a permanent forward - he can even take the specky!

One other thing to comment on as far as our season goes is the similarity to our opening 6 matches for the past two seasons. In 2009 after Round 6, we were 4-1-1 in 2nd spot. The rest of the minor round season was 7-7.
Last year after Round 7, we were 5-1 and top on %. The rest of the minor round season was 6-8.

It remains to be seen whether this is our best footy and it gets worse, or we can improve and secure at least a top 3 spot. I'd like to think it's the latter.

Tough footy by Port but the poor second quarter cost us big time. Maric and Surjan do make a huge difference to us. Maric for his height that allows more options in how we use Thurgood. Surjan for his workrate and strength.

Having said that there were a few instances yesterday where Maric and Butcher got in each other's way and that needs to be sorted out. Also with those two up front we need a small clever player at the fall of the ball - when is Jezza back from injury?

We missed Clinch and Summo though - Miekeljohn won plenty of taps but Eagles got a lot of those clearances. Also we dropped about half a dozen uncontested marks inside 50m which all should have been taken and converted into goals.

Interested in Boony's assessment of Dolling in the best. I didn't see him till the second half. I thought Lokan once again was amongst our best. The bloke is a genius.

Oh, and woodville really is the best place to watch footy in the SANFL. Lovely place.

Is that 6 wins in a row vs Port? Would have to be a record wouldn't it spelly?

Great team effort yesterday. I thought Staple was fantastic up forward. That goal he kicked moments after the corked hip was a beauty. Treeby also showed his value up forward.

Rowntree's work rate is really impressive. I thought he was up there as one of our best yesterday in what was a pretty even team effort. It's hard to realise it is only his 2nd season such is his body strength, confidence and ability to win the ball.

What was evident was how much of a difference it was for us when Parry was in the ruck as opposed to Bock. That is a little concerning, but you would expect Bock to improve as the season goes on.

Day again was good in the back lines. LEH - you are right. Batley kicked a great first goal and looks a player.

First game yesterday for my daughter. She might not remember it (being 4 months) but I certainly will!

Well done Eagles! Now for the big one at Elizabeth next week and a pretty big few weeks. That will show where we are at as there is no other ground in the SANFL where you need to work harder for a win.

I must comment on Parry's courageous effort today, obviously playing under difficulties from an injury two weeks ago, he performed magnificently to get on top of Meikeljohn and Maric to set up the Eagles win. His second half effort was stoic. His clean hitouts to advantage let the Eagles get on top in the clearance contests. Parry's recruiting by the Eagles has been understated by many outside the club but he is very highly regarded by supporters both for his on and off the field contributions to the club.

Bernie Vince showed why he is an AFL player and no-one was going to shut him down.

I don't recall Surjan being on the bench at all during the day and by the end he couldn't blow out a candle.

Jarrod Young was an acquisition but needs another couple of games to get up to speed.

We looked really dangerous when kicking long down the middle with Milera scouting the packs. BUT for some reason we continued to kick wide with unforced errors really hurting when the Eagles rebounded.

I don't blame a second year coach who's still learning his craft and in the end poise and experience won out in the end.

Next week becomes a valuable bonding experience for the club and they should come back from Sydney buoyed by a win to face Norwood on Friday night.

beenreal wrote:Bernie Vince showed why he is an AFL player and no-one was going to shut him down.

I don't recall Surjan being on the bench at all during the day and by the end he couldn't blow out a candle.

Jarrod Young was an acquisition but needs another couple of games to get up to speed.

We looked really dangerous when kicking long down the middle with Milera scouting the packs. BUT for some reason we continued to kick wide with unforced errors really hurting when the Eagles rebounded.

I don't blame a second year coach who's still learning his craft and in the end poise and experience won out in the end.

Next week becomes a valuable bonding experience for the club and they should come back from Sydney buoyed by a win to face Norwood on Friday night.

Port will make the 5.

pipers wrote:Having said that there were a few instances yesterday where Maric and Butcher got in each other's way and that needs to be sorted out.

Early on in our match, Cornesey tried to mark something that had Grima's name stamped all over it. Put it down to unfamiliarity with the team. I s'pose this affects all of the SANFL clubs with returning AFL players.

Port's best player wrap up in the Mail today is good.... and how the hell did Lewis not get a mention in the Eagles best?

pipers wrote:Also we dropped about half a dozen uncontested marks inside 50m which all should have been taken and converted into goals.

Not just inside 50, we dropped them all over the ground...

dont forget to mention over running the ball about 30m out from goal with no one in front of you and no one withing 5m