Australian Football

Match Report

Sunday arvo found us heading port-side for a Battle of the Birds as the opposing sides of Port Road clashed at Alberton Oval... the Magpies facing the Eagles. The last time these teams met, the Eagles downed their western suburbs rivals by 39 points at Woodville. But Port have seemingly found their groove as of late, arresting their poor form with a pair of victories over the Dogs and the Bloods over the last couple of weeks. The Eagles had some goal-scoring issues last weekend and were almost toppled by the Roosters at Prospect but scraped home by a single straight kick. For all the victories they've strung together as of late, it seemed that the Eagles' armour had been damaged some after their trip to Menzies Crescent.

The Magpies got right to work and kept the Eagles to just one behind and broke out to a 25-point lead by quarter-time after kicking 4.2 for themselves. The following two quarters weren't nearly as productive on the scoreboard for the Magpies, in the second term it was almost score-for-score as Port added a point to their quarter-time lead and the Eagles finally found the big sticks. The 'Pies 2.3 to 2.2 saw them go into the rooms with a 26-point lead at half-time. The Eagles managed to chip a goal of the Magpies' advantage by the final change, they scored 2.2 to 1.2 in the third term to reduce the gap to 20 points, but in the end they wouldn't get any closer. The Magpies stirred to life after their brief slumber, kicking 5.3 to the Eagles' two goals in the final quarter to race away to a 41-point victory.

Nathan Krakouer was voted best afield for the Magpies, the Eagles named James Boyd as their best.