Australian Football

Match Report

We head up to the Prospect Oval for the ABC television match between the Roosters and the Eagles. The last stoush between these two sides had a frenetic finish to it, but one mistake in the dying seconds by a Roosters defender would end up costing them dearly as the Eagles snatched a two-point win through a holding-the-ball call dead in front of goal at Oval Avenue. Sweet revenge for the Eagles after losing the previous two which included an Elimination Final. That win would see the Eagles take a sixth win from the previous 11 encounters.

The Roosters have been out of sorts as of late and this was the perfect time for the Eagles to swoop in, which they did early on as they opened the days proceedings with a 6.3 to 3.3 first quarter to take a three-goal lead at quarter-time. But the Roosters responded in the second term, keeping the Eagles to just a single behind whilst kicking 3.2 to overtake the Eagles by a point at the half-time break. Unfortunately the Roosters would drop their bundle here, not the kind of thing many SA footy-heads expected from a side that has until a few weeks ago, been quite impressive and eyeing off a Qualifying final spot. The Eagles began their dominance from the restart, but inaccuracy kept them to just 4.6 but they also restricted the Roosters to a lousy three behinds. At three quarter-time the home side were ahead by 26 points but the worst was coming up. The Eagles finished the day with a 50-point victory, after they bagged 7.2 to 3.2 in the final quarter.

Matt Goldsworthy was voted best afield for the Eagles, while the Roosters named Jay Shannon as their best.