Australian Football

Match Report

The next day now sends us to the inner south of the city and into the Unley Oval, where the Double Blues faced the Eagles. Another match that was had a long wait for the return bout, it was back in Round 1 once again where the Eagles ran out 46-point winners at Woodville. Not even goal-kicking yips were going to stop the Eagles on this day, scoring 16 behinds from 29 scoring shots. The third quarter was especially frustrating to watch for the home faithful that day, kicking almost half their behind tally in that quarter alone. Sturt actually led at the long break by three points, but were held to just two goals and one behind for the rest of the game. The Blues' fight to salvage their season got a big boost over the last three weeks, their win at Alberton in Round 17 brought them to within a game of the Redlegs and the Panthers. With South's loss last week, a win this week was ever so important. The Eagles' spot is under no such threat at this point, their defeat of Adelaide practically locking in their place in the Qualifying Final in two weeks time.

The goals were quite plentiful in the opening quarter, the Blues could have held a two-goal lead at quarter-time if not for a pair of missed chances. Instead they would be just two points ahead at the first change, scoring 4.2 to the Eagles four goals without a miss. However the Sturt forwards were held to just one behind in the second quarter as the Eagles took over, going into the long break with a three-goal advantage after scoring 3.3 for themselves. The Blues had the bulk of the attack for the first 11 minutes but weren't making up too much ground on the Eagles who still kept them at arms length for the rest of the term. The Blues did, though, manage to cut the gap back to two straight kicks by the final change. Sturt scored 4.2 to 3.1 to bring the gap down to 11 points at three quarter-time. A tense final quarter would ensue, neither side giving too much quarter to the other. The Eagles scored the first goal at the fourth minute along with two behinds to Sturt's single miss to lead once more by three goals. Sturt battled hard but with two more missed opportunities and just one late major, their finals aspiriations were now no longer in their hands. The Eagles would leave Unley with a 10-point victory and with the Blues facing the Roosters next week and both the Redlegs and the Panthers playing lower placed sides, a surprise Elimination Final berth seems very unlikely. 

The Eagles named James Tsitas as their best on ground with his 42 disposals and six clearances, while the Blues' Abe Davis was voted their standout with 25 disposals and 11 marks.