League Round 3 Match Report

Eagles 10.17 (77) def by Adelaide 14.16 (100)
Goal Scorers: Rowe 5, Von Bertouch 2, Boyd, Hayes J, Lewis
Best Players: Rowe, Rowland, Petrenko, Foote, Von Bertouch

Our second loss for the season was a tough one to accept. Playing the SANFL Crows who were in a similar position to us with 1 win and 1 loss made it a big game for both sides.

For a 3^rd consecutive week we got to see another Eagle run out for his first game. Cooper Gaffney was our 6^th debutant to play league football this season. He certainly held his own showing some great closing speed in defence, clean by hands and the ability to move the ball forward with long direct kicking by foot.

Right from the 1^st team meeting the men had great confidence in what we prepared to implement and how we expected the Crows to play. At the start of the game we let ourselves down by not being clean with the ball allowing the crows to enter their forward 50 a number of times and conceding 2 goals. Once we started to move the ball and our efficiency picked up, we found opportunities to score through forward 50 marks and small forwards playing their role. The 1^st and 2^nd quarters were a tight contest with a few points the difference at Half time.

3^rd term saw the Crows take control of the stoppages with 3 goals to our 0.3. Ineffective disposal also hurt us and the Crows showed some great efficiency by foot to control the quarter which applied pressure to our defence.

James Rowe was outstanding with a 5-goal haul and he continues to thrive this season as a crafty forward that knows where the goals are. Jordan Foote again was solid with 36 disposals at 86% efficiency, Jared Petrenko and Sam Rowland continued to work hard with a good performance and team first attitude.

Next week we play West Adelaide which is a big game for both clubs. We can expect to see a number of key Eagle players return in round 4.

Sam Lonergan
Senior Coach