Australian Football

Match Report

The second match for the weekend takes us to the inner western side of the city and into the Hisense Stadium in Richmond for the west side derby between the Bloods and the Eagles. Not even a horrid afternoon in front of the sticks could deny the Eagles the last time these sides met, kicking eight goals from 23 scores to win by just 13 points back in Round 3 at Woodville. Earlier in the match, the Eagles had a three-goal lead having scored 4.2 to 1.2. But from there, their accuracy went spiralling. It didn't stop them of course, the Bloods had their chances as well but couldn't take advantage of the Eagles' scoring rut. Westies' 400 plus days of hell continued last week with their loss to Adelaide, while the Eagles were pantsed by the second-bottom Bulldogs at Oval Avenue. Did the absence of senior coach Jade Sheedy contribute to their shock defeat? His return should have heralded a return to something more akin to their best. The Bloods did mount a challenge early on, but inaccuracy on goal saw them holding a three-point lead instead of a three-goal lead at quarter-time with the scoreboard reading 3.4 to 3.1. The Eagles would still be behind the eight-ball come half-time, the Bloods outscoring them 3.3 to two goals in the second term to take their lead out to two goals going into the long break. The Eagles, no doubt rattled by their upset loss last week looked like lightning was going to strike again. Sorry, folks but that just wasn't going to happen. The Eagles weren't going to lose two on the trot to the bottom end of the table. Soon enough when play resumed, the hopes of pulling off a Centrals of last week were swiftly dashed. It took 15 minutes for reality to return to Milner Road, the Eagles kicking 7.3 to 1.1 in the third quarter to lead by 26 points by the final change. Just one solid quarter of football was all it took to sink the Bloods, who outscored the Eagles in the final term but only to reduce the final gap to 20 points after scoring 4.2 to 3.2. Riley Knight was racking them up in his best afield efforts for the Eagles, notching up 35 disposals, nine marks, seven tackles and six clearances. For West, it was Patrick Fairlie with 26 disposals and 10 tackles.