Australian Football

Match Report

Next up its the Qualifying Final between the Eagles and the Double Blues. The Eagles finished off the minor round with a 26-point win against the Bulldogs, but were made to work for it a little after a horrid opening term in front of goal. The reigning premiers were humbled by the Tigers in the final round by five points at Gliderol Stadium and were left with lasting scars. In the finals series, there's been a few outings between these sides. While the Eagles were victorious in the 2nd Semi back in 2016, two weeks later they could only watch as that year's flag found its way to Oxford Terrace. The Preliminary Final in 2017 was another disaster story for the Eagles at the hands of the Blues as they went a third year running with a minor premiership but no Thomas Seymour-Hill Trophy. In regards to Qualifying Final encounters, they last went at it in the 2004 season. The Blues had the lead at every change but were kept scoreless in the final quarter as the Eagles booted seven goals to win by 35 points. This year's encounters saw the two sides trade blows on each other's home patch, the Eagles winning by 33 points at Unley in Round 6, then the Blues returning the favour by 23 points at Woodville.

Those scars I was talking about earlier? The Blues were the walking wounded for this one, four key players were eliminated from their line-up following their loss to Glenelg. The Eagles weren't fully able to take advantage in the early stages of this scrappy contest, they sprayed several shots on goal for a return of 2.4 while the Blues scored 2.2 for a gap of two points in favour of the Eagles at quarter-time. The Eagles would continue to put shots wide in the second term, but the Blues weren't finding their way into their 50 often enough to trouble their lead. The Eagles would take a 10-point lead into the half-time break after scoring 2.3 to 1.1. The pressure began to tell on the Blues in the third quarter, they would lose yet another key player to injury during this period as the Eagles took their advantage out to four goals come three quarter-time after scoring 3.2 to the Blues' single major. Sturt attempted to launch a comeback in the final quarter but even though the Eagles only managed 1.4, their defence would only let in 2.1 as they booked a 2nd Semi-Final berth on the back of a 21-point win. Suddenly, a three-peat for the reigning champs is in serious jeopardy, they will face the Roosters in the 1st Semi-Final. Paul Stewart was named the Eagles' best afield, the Blues named Matthew Crocker as their best.