Sturt flicks switch in third quarter to surge past Woodville-West Torrens
STURT coach Seamus Maloney lauded his side's third quarter against Woodville-West Torrens at Woodville, claiming it was as ''good'' as the side has played this season.
STURT coach Seamus Maloney lauded his side's third quarter against Woodville-West Torrens at Woodville, claiming it was as ''good'' as the side has played this season.
The Doubles Blues, so panicky and clumsy for much of the first half, sent a warning to rivals when it dismantled the Eagles with an emphatic second half performance.
Trailing by 26 points early in the third term, the Double Blues sprung to life with a highly impressive brand of football to triumph by 40 points and climb within a game of ladder-leading Port Adelaide. ''We just kept chipping away and working hard and that third quarter was as good as we have played, working into a breeze and controlling the ball,'' Maloney said. ''I was rapt with the mindset of the guys and blokes who were not contributing much to really knuckle down and get themselves into the game.''
Indecisive and lacking conviction in the first half, the Double Blues used the ball far more effectively against the wind in the third term and their defensive work lifted significantly.
They swarmed over the Eagles, who fell apart against the Double Blues onslaught, as Zane Kirkwood, Ben Kane and Richard Tambling took control of the midfield.
The Eagles, dominant for much of the first two quarters, had no answers when the visitors turned up the heat.
Eagles coach Michael Godden said he was upset to know another team had more passion to succeed.
''That hurts and that is primarily my issue at the moment,'' Godden said. ''Personnel wise we are OK, form wise we are OK in patches but I saw a footy club in the other changerooms that had more passion to win and more drive than we do.
''That needs to be fixed and that is my primary role.''