Eagles use Crows to finetune its game for the SANFL finals
IT was Carnival Day at Woodville Oval and a big crowd turned out to watch the Eagles make light work of bottom side the Crows and send a message to the competition.
WOODVILLE-West Torrens has used the Crows as a training drill as it finetuned its form ahead of the finals and sent a message to the competition with a 45-point win at Woodville Oval.
It was the Eagles’ annual Carnival Day with a bumper crowd of 5357 — the fourth biggest crowd at Woodville since the move from Footall Park in 1993 — but Adelaide was locked out of the show.
James Boyd set the tone early with a string of disposals and a goal from a turnover late in the first half that summed up the day: it was on the Eagles’ terms regardless of who had the ball.
Brothers Jack and 188cm utility Nick Hayes, who also played through the midfield and kicked two first-half goals, were just two players who caused headaches for the Crows.
There were impressive efforts in every line.
Luke Thompson channelled a goal keeper for spoils in defence saved goals, Boyd, Scott Lewis and little Angus Poole worked from contest to contest and big men such as Marc Borholm and Louis Sharrad showed their versatility as they worked their tricks both by helping Seb Guilhaus in the ruck and kicking goals in attack.
Jake Johansen and James Rowe were also impressive in the forward 50, knowing when to kick a goal and when to set up a teammate
Johansen’s snap off a step in the third quarter — his second goal for the day — was one of the highlights of the afternoon.
Patrick Wilson, Sam Gibson and Jake Kelly stood out for the Crows but the match was never in doubt.
Mitch McGovern, who was overlooked for the Crows’ loss to Greater Western Sydney in the AFL on Saturday night, did not have the sort of day that will have people up in arms about his non-selection.
His best came from defence in the last quarter.
“I thought in our first three quarters we were playing the style of footy we’ve been wanting to play,” Eagles coach Michael Godden said. “That was nice, to get that feeling again.”
SCOREBOARD
EAGLES 2.2 8.7 15.10 16.10 (106)
CROWS 3.1 3.2 5.5 9.7 (61)
Goals
Eagles: N Hayes, Johansen 3, Borholm, Sharrad, Lewis 2, Boyd, Rowe, Petrenko, Rowland
Crows: Poholke, McGovern, Himmelberg 2, Edwards, Hadden, Hunter
Best
Eagles: N Hayes, Thompson, Boyd, Lewis, Johansen, Rowe
Crows: Wilson, Kelly, Gibson, Poholke, Signorello
Umpires: Sobieraj, Bennett, Medlin
Crowd: 5357 at Maughan Thiem Hyundai Oval