Sturt overcomes injury to beat Eagles in SANFL at Unley Oval

STURT had not tasted victory against Woodville-West Torrens at Unley Oval in their previous 11 contests and the Double Blues needed to be brave.

Josh Patullo celebrates a goal and Sturt finally conquers Woodville-West Torrens at Unley Oval. Picture: Tom Huntley

NO more evident was Sturt’s brave fight than gun midfielder Aidan Riley limping to the bench with cramp just seconds before the final siren confirmed its seven-point triumph at Unley Oval on Saturday.

Incredibly, the Double Blues had lost their previous 11 contests against Woodville-West Torrens at home.

Ben Hansen, playing his first league game since 2017, was reduced to passenger status in the first quarter when he damaged his shoulder. The Double Blues small forward would make a brief appearance in the third quarter with his right arm hanging limp. His presence was necessary given the side had lost Guy Page in the opening minutes due to injury. And Riley was receiving treatment after leaving the field with blood flowing from a head wound.

For most of the day the Double Blues had led against an Eagles outfit struggling for cohesion.

Then the visitors, sparked by ruckman Jarrad Redden, clicked to hit the front nine minutes into the final quarter.

The Double Blues would not be denied, however, and they kept fighting.

“It was a great win,” new Double Blues coach Nathan Grima said. “The Eagles had a few out and had their own issues on the bench.

“But we had one on the bench and guys were going up and down on the spot in the last quarter. We were staring down the barrel at 0-2 so it was a massive win. It is probably more than just the points, it was a character win.”

The return of Jake Sutcliffe gave the Double Blues more potency in attack, while the constant pressure of the home side created problems for the Eagles.

For the opening three quarters, there was plenty of clumsy skills from the Eagles, they seemed rushed in their work and they struggled in attack where the Double Blues defence feasted on intercept marks. There were just too many Eagles’ turnovers.

Eagles coach Sam Lonergan admitted to going into the match with an unbalanced forward line because of injuries and suspensions.

“We probably had too many smalls through that forward line,” he said. “The clarity and consistency with that forward line synergy with the mids and backs was slightly off, which is why we got the result we did.”

Given it was Scott Lewis’s 200th game, he was frustrated it took until the final quarter to get it right.

STURT 3.4 5.9 7.10 12.12 (84)

EAGLES 1.5 2.7 3.11 11.11 (77)

BEST - Sturt: Pearce, Colquhoun, Riley, Battersby, Sumner, Kirkwood, Harms. Eagles: Redden, Foote, Lewis, J. Gaffney, Goldsworthy.

GOALS - Sturt: Hone 3, Sutcliffe, Crocker, Riley 2, Hansen, Patullo, Read. Eagles: J. Hayes 3, von Bertouch, Redden 2, Johansen, Boyd, Rowe, Pickett.

INJURIES - Sturt: Hansen (shoulder), Page (ankle). Eagles: Hall (groin).

UMPIRES - Lewis, Bryce, Crosby.

CROWD - 2824 at Peter Motley Oval, Unley.