Eagles take flight after goalless first quarter

The West Coast Eagles notched their first away win of the season on Sunday afternoon but it was another milestone that shocked AFL fans.

The Eagles have recorded back-to-back wins for the first time this year. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

West Coast have eased the concerns surrounding their interstate form this season considerably by scoring an emphatic 38-point win against bottom-four Hawthorn at the MCG.

The Eagles headed into the contest having lost all three of their games on the road in 2021 by an average of 41 points, but if they wanted to be taken seriously as a top-eight threat, they had to take care of the Hawks.

The game got off to a slow start, with the first quarter featuring no goals in a 50-year first for the MCG.

Both sides committed countless turnovers, which was especially frustrating for West Coast who doubled the hosts for inside 50s (16-8) in the opening term.

However, the gulf in class between these two sides became painfully apparent in the second period as West Coast flexed their considerable muscle to blow the Hawks off the park in front of just 15,277 fans on Mother’s Day.

Powered by the clearance work of Nic Naitanui and Kelly, the Eagles capitalised on their continued territory dominance with an emphatic seven-goals-to-three quarter to take a 27-point lead at halftime.

From that point on Adam Simpson’s side was met with minimal meaningful resistance as the Hawks’ pressured and rushed delivery to their forward line plagued them for much of the afternoon.

Oscar Allen was forced to play in defence due to the absence of injured star trio Jeremy McGovern, Tom Barrass and Shannon Hurn, but it barely impacted the Eagles in attack as they finished with nine goalkickers, Brendon Ah Chee leading the way with a career-high four majors.

West Coast were also missing Liam Ryan, Luke Shuey and Elliot Yeo, but the likes of Tim Kelly, Dom Sheed and Andrew Gaff picked up the slack to ensure their absence wasn’t too keenly felt.

But the result could have come at a cost for the Eagles with Josh Kennedy finishing the game with a huge ice pack on his right calf.

AH CHEE GETS BALL ROLLING

After 10 straight behinds, we had to wait until the three-minute mark of the second quarter to get the first goal of the game courtesy of West Coast’s Brendon Ah Chee who nailed it from 48m out on the run. And a few minutes later, Ah Chee repeated the dose from the goal square after Jack Scrimshaw attempted to fist the ball but failed to make contact, allowing it to slip out the back. Ten goals in total were kicked for the quarter.

After a goalless first quarter for both sides, Brandon Ah Chee broke the drought with the first of his four goals. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

JONES INJECTS SOME LIFE

When the game was desperately crying out for some exhilaration early in the second quarter, Jamaine Jones answered the call as he zoomed up the middle of the ground and engaged in a blistering one-two with Josh Kennedy before sprinting to 30m out and slotting a ripper to give the Eagles a 13-point lead.

SHIELS SHOCKER

With his side trailing by 14 points midway through the second term, experienced Hawk Liam Shiels made an uncharacteristic mistake as he kicked across goal deep in defence attempting to pass to Tom Phillips, but big Eagle Bailey Williams was wise to the plan, and took the easy intercept mark before slotting the set shot from 25m out in front.

JIATH GIFTS JACK GOAL

It didn’t get better for Hawks down back midway through the third term, either. Changkuoth Jiath gathered the ball under pressure deep in defence, but as he was about to be tackled by Waterman, he panicked and handballed it away straight into the path of Jack Petruccelle who made it hard for himself, but his ugly attempt from the goal square managed to clip his toe and dribble it through to put the Eagles 38 points to the good.

IF YOU DON’T MIND, UMPIRE

There may not be a worse umpiring non-decision this season than the one that occurred 10 minutes into the first quarter as Changkuoth Jiath tucked the ball under his arm, took his West Coast opponent on, failed, had the ball stripped of him, yet wasn’t penalised for holding the ball. It was as clear as day, yet somehow Eleni Glouftsis waved play on despite being right on the scene.

HAWKS 0.3 3.6 5.10 8.12 (60)

EAGLES 0.5 7.9 11.11 14.14 (98)

LERNER’S BEST Hawks: Impey, Mitchell, Hartigan, Worpel, Frost. Eagles: Kelly, Sheed, Gaff, Ah Chee, Sheppard, Naitanui, Darling.

GOALS Hawks: Hanrahan 2, Lewis 2, Worpel 2, Impey, Howe. Eagles: Ah Chee 4, Darling 2, Petruccelle 2, Jones, Williams, Kelly, Kennedy, Langdon, Waterman.

INJURIES Hawks: Nil. Eagles: Kennedy (calf).

LATE CHANGE Jack Gunston (back spasms) was replaced in Hawthorn’s selected side by Josh Morris.

UMPIRES Donlon, Meredith, Glouftsis

VENUE MCG

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

LERNER’S VOTES

3 T.Kelly (WC)

2 D.Sheed (WC)

1 A.Gaff (WC)

Originally published as Eagles take flight after goalless first quarter