Woodville-West Torrens too sharp for Sturt in Unley arm-wrestle

IN the end, Sturt was brave, the Eagles were just a little sharper and a three-goal margin was about right at Unley on Saturday.

IN the end, Sturt was brave, the Eagles were just a little sharper and a three-goal margin was about right at Unley on Saturday.

Woodville-West Torrens strengthened its position at the top of the ladder, shrugging off the determined Double Blues with an 18-point win in a wet-weather slog.

The Eagles made it 11 straight wins, and six in a row at Unley, in a low-scoring clash that was every bit the armwrestle of the previous Round 8 encounter between the sides.

It was a tackle and stoppage fest that was punctuated only by rare pieces of luck or brilliance that delivered scores.

But most of all, it was a mesmerising test of each club's defensive line. Pretty? Not even close. But for desperation, this was the on level that used to kick in about the "last drinks" call at Lenny's.

Sturt had its chances, and will rue a handful of missed set shots that left it with just two goals and trailing by 28 points at the final change.

But in a game where just grasping the ball was difficult, a Double Blues win would have been a heist.

"Any time you play in conditions like that, you know it's only going to be a two or three-goal game," Eagles coach Michael Godden said.

"Sometimes it can come down to a bit of luck. Sturt threw everything. It was a survival game for us, so very pleased to get the points."

The danger for the Blues coming in was finding a way to combat the Eagles' forward pressure, and their ability to bottle the ball inside their own 50.

But Michael Coad, Kory Beard and Fraser Evans combined superbly to hold the ball up, switch with precision and work the ball out of the danger zone.

At the other end, it was Phil Raymond, Jarred Allmond and Angus Rowntree who resisted just as strongly.

But though it was not a day for Eagles key forward Michael Wundke, Woodville-West Torrens were a notch better forward of the rebound.

When Jared Petrenko drilled just the third goal of the match, and the Eagles' second, on his left boot near time-on in the second term, it emphasised the gap in class.

It took eight minutes for the first score of the match, and a full 17 minutes before a score in the second.

Sturt was its own worst enemy at times, either spooked by the strong breeze or the Eagles' tight defence and too often looked for the extra handball.

"I was reasonably positive about our attitude and effort, they're just a bit cleaner and more confident than us at the moment," Sturt coach Seamus Maloney said.

"They took their chances better and created a few more and were a bit stronger around the stoppages. We kept hunting, but just not good enough in the end."

EAGLES 1.4 3.5 6.8 8.8 (56)

STURT 0.1 1.1 2.4 5.8 (38)

Best - Eagles: Allmond, Petrenko, Raymond, Rowntree, Giuffreda, Schwarz Sturt: Coad, Page, Hansen, Beard, Battersby, F. Evans.

Goals - Eagles: Lewis, Hall 2, Petrenko, McGregor, Wundke. Sturt: Hansen, Page, Stephens, Taggert, Watt.

Injuries - Sturt: Bruggemann (back)

Umpires - Fleer, Lally, Medlin.