Australian Football

Match Report

In the final match for the Round 4 weekend, the action ended in the leafy suburb of Unley, the Double Blues facing the Eagles at Envestra Park. The 2013 season saw these two clubs meet on three occasions, while the Eagles bagged the Round 1 game the other two went the way of the Blues. That last victory ironically was at Unley, with the two Sturt wins coming at Woodville. The Blues were on a high, because like South were coming into this round, had not been beaten in 2014 as yet. But then the Eagles haven't had two imposing forwards on the field at the same time until today... and a real battle was at hand.

The first term was a goal-fest for both sides, kicking six goals each to start the game. Two behinds to one would see the Eagles take a quarter-time lead of one point. An inaccurate second term by the Blues would allow the Eagles to create a buffer come half-time, Sturt scored 1.5 to the Eagles' 5.2 to have the visitors ahead by 22 points at the long break. Inaccuracy would continue to plague the Blues when play resumed and the Eagles had even stretched the gap to six goals during the third term. Despite the missed shots, they managed to put more goals through than the Eagles, kicking 5.6 to 4.3 and drawing the deficit back to 13 points at three quarter-time. The final term was a nail-biter, the Blues continuing to chip away at the Eagles' lead. But a tough last minute shot on goal proved the difference, the Eagles 2.4 to Sturt's 3.5 would see the visitors home by a goal in a game that would at the moment would be considered the Match of the Year thus far. Michael Wundke would be named best for the Eagles, while the Blues named Ben Kane as their best on ground.