Airport West secures big win over Avondale Heights

Airport West had plenty of reasons to celebrate its big win on Saturday as a debutant impressed. Coach Trent Rogers believes the past fortnight now has his side building nicely.

It feels like it’s all starting to come together for Airport West.

The last two weeks have proven to Eagles coach Trent Rogers and his playing group they well and truly belong in the Essendon District league’s Premier Division.

They fell to reigning premier Strathmore by 13 points a week ago only to back it up with a statement of intent against Avondale Heights.

The newly promoted Eagles ran out 20.19 (139) to 4.7 (31) winners.

It was a victory that made the club feel like they “belong” in the top tier and cannot only survive relegation but also push the very best teams.

“Against Strathmore, it felt like we got back into a lot of the good habits that held us in good stead last year,” Rogers said.

“Some people might have thought we would have been happy to have got so close but we had opportunities and it only made us hungrier to win that first game.

“The pieces of the puzzle are finally starting to come together. The reserves are 3-2 which proves the depth is good and shows why we should be good.

“The last fortnight we’ve got back to our strengths. The new guys into the group have a sense of belonging now and that chemistry is really building.

“We’ve now got a fantastic opportunity to build from here.”

Brendan Godden of Airport West celebrates a goal.Picture: George Salpigtidis

While there were plenty of impressive signs for the Eagles, there was none arguably better than Billy Barnes debut for the club.

The Echuca product made the most of his opportunities in front of goal with a game high four majors.

Anthony Aloi and Muhammad Saad also got in on the act with three apiece.

“Billy is one we’ve had to be patient with,” Rogers said.

“He played a practice match with us at the start of April then there were a few issues with his clearance (it was only approved last week). But he brought some fantastic pressure which was a real highlight of our performance.

“Tackle pressure and team involvement is something we’ve improved in the last couple of weeks and it’s helped the self belief to grow as well.

“I felt like from the start of the game our skill execution was fantastic. We were able to trap the ball in our front half of the ground and prevent them from doing the same.”

Airport West senior coach Trent Rogers.Picture: Stuart Milligan

Joel Brown was named best afield for the Eagles as he continued his impressive start to the season while Lachlan Di Sebastiano, Isaac Cullen, Jesse McVeigh and Luca Muratore impressed.

Brown has been named in the Eagles best three times this year.

“He’s been super impressive on a wing,” Rogers said.

“We even through him through the middle for a bit. His endurance and skill level make him a really important player for us.”