South Bunbury have defeated the Collie Eagles at Hands Memorial Oval on Sunday afternoon, in round eight of the Dale Alcock Homes South West, South West Football League season.
On a day where the weather produced a little bit of everything, intermittent rain made the ground a little greasy at the start of the match, and then brilliant sunshine would blind the players at other times. With the crowd restricted to the Grandstand due to construction works for the AFL match, a good proportion of the play was on the outer side as the Tigers made the most of the opening term, with Tyson Lane looking menacing up forward, kicking the opening two scores of the game, finishing the quarter with two goals. The Tigers early dominance was tempered when Jace Fontana snapped an excellent goal, giving the Eagles their only score of the quarter.
Leading by 28 points at quarter time, Ethan Nordahl kicked the first of the second term to extend the margin further. Collie would have plenty of the ball, but were not able to capitilise on opportunities as the home side went to half time 40 points in front.
Matt Burton converted for the Eagles early in the third, as again the Eagles had plenty of possessions, but the Tigers were able to repel numerous times, before scoring themselves. When South Bunbury did score, it looked easy, while Collie had to work much harder to get maximum result. The highlight of the term was Jayce Fontana’s snap at goal, his second for the match, but that goal was quickly negated by another to Ethan Nordahl.
In a match which didn’t get to any great heights, the Eagles didn’t give in, having the final three scores of the match, but the Tigers were too good, and remain third on the ladder at the end of the round. Tyson Lane played well, as did Kade Wallrodt who received the Belt Up ball, while David Cowan and Odinn Kirk played well for Collie.
The Tigers will head to Harvey in round nine to play the Bulls, while Collie despite losing to the Tigers, will be looking forward to the contest with Eaton in round nine, the first game of the season to be played at the Collie Recreaton Ground.
Jace Fontana kicked two good goals for Collie.SCOREBOARD
South Bunbury 5.4.34 8.6.54 12.12.84 16.14.110
Collie Eagles 1.0.6 2.2.14 4.2.26 6.4.40
Goals: South Bunbury – Tyson Lane 4, Ethan Nordahl 3, Jace Cormack 2, Blaine Johnson 2, Kevin Chitty 1, Ben McGuire 1, Nathan Murray 1, Kade Szyszka 1, Kade Wallrodt 1. Collie Eagles – Matthew Burton 2, Jayce Fontana 2, David Cowan 1, Mathew Michael 1.
Best: South Bunbury – Tyson Lane, Jay Wright, Ben McGuire, Nathan Murray, Ethan Nordahl, Shaun Crane. Collie Eagles – David Cowan, Odinn Kirk, Jayce Fontana, Jason Carter, Talan Michael, Cameron Davidson.
Ground: Hands Memorial Oval
Umpires: Talen Guthrie, Matthew Stewart
Crowd: 512
Photos courtesy of Wayne Hislop