Australian Football

Match Report

At Woodville the Eagles took on the Redlegs at Maughan Thiem Hyundai Oval. In 2014, not many sides could say they were undefeated against the reigning premiers. But the Eagles did, winning both their minor round matches at the Woodville nest by 20 points in Round 13 and by three points at The Parade in Round 8. It was therefore, probably fortunate for the Redlegs that they didn't face off during the finals, despite the fact that the Eagles went out as quickly as they went in it seemed as though they had Norwood's number in 2014. So when the Eagles went down to West Adelaide and the 'Legs edged out the Bulldogs last weekend, people could be forgiven for thinking that Norwood's defeat of the Eagles would be inevitable. Well... were they in for an eye-opening experience.

The Eagles would begin the day rather slowly, kicking 2.2 to the Redlegs' three behinds to take an 11-point lead at quarter-time. Those three missed chances would haunt the Redlegs for the rest of the game, that same number of missed opportunities would be repeated in the following quarter. The Eagles would once again allow just three behinds in the second term, despite their own inaccuracy they would take the deficit out to 37 points by the long break after kicking 5.5. The Redlegs would finally kick their first goal in the third quarter, which would be their only major for the term along with three behinds as the Eagles continued to build on their lead. They added a further 4.3 to their tally, taking the gap out to 61 points. Norwood fans in attendance were no doubt looking for the nearest exit by this point, the Eagles outplayed them in every facet of the game. The home side buried the premiers whole in the final term, kicking 6.1 to 2.5 in the last quarter to hand the visitors a humiliating 81-point hammering.