Men’s Premier Division Match of the Round – East Coast Eagles vs Manly Warringah Wolves
Photo: Merrille Redden
RECAP
Both teams entered Round 2 off the back of defeats in Round 1. East Coast under the excellent leadership of Damien Truslove (appointed Head Coach in the off-season) pushed St George all day while Manly Warringah has their hearts broken in last weeks Match of the Round going down to Inner West by 5 points (a result which holds up well considering the draw between Inner West and Sydney University in the Peter Ramus Cup contested at Sydney University Oval No 1 on Saturday).
Manly Warringah and East Coast are on the same trajectory with a good mix of experience along with lots of young talent emerging, although the Wolves appear to be further along their rebuild and proved to strong and classy for the Eagles on this occasion.
FIRST QUARTER
The first contest of the day was between the old firm Andrew Browning (East Coast) and the new, with Lachlan McAndrew (Manly Warringah). Both ruckmen battled it out across the ground during the first quarter, however, Browning appeared to be hampered by an injury and spent a portion of the quarter on the sidelines.
As with Round 1, the Manly Warringah side was incredibly well drilled across half back with Zachary Youlten, Jack Field and Aiden Butler the keys to their rebounding efforts. The first goal of the quarter came from a nice transition piece with the Wolves via an intercept mark from Alexander Fraser ultimately ending up with the classy Kieran LeJeune who in turn found Lachlan Behagg. After some nice bodywork to protect the space and claim the mark he kicked truly.
In an action packed first quarter the Eagles hit back with two goals in a row from the evergreen Karl Merson who continued to rack up possessions all day along with key forward Joshua Cutting. Nicholas March kicked the final goal of the quarter, and at the first break it was even with East Coast 2.0.12 to Manly Warringah 2.0.12.
SECOND QUARTER
After the first break, teams came out tackled hard – the contest had gone up a notch with both teams sharing periods of dominance and ball control. The play of the match came early in the second quarter when Ryan Stubbs (Round 1 – Rising Star) marked strongly on the Commercial Road side of the ground, quickly found Callum McPhee who in turn linked with a running Youlten before he pinpointed Nicholas Marsh with a wonderful kick. Marsh played on with the run of play and calmly finished the goal from 40 metres out right in front of the Eagles Nest. It was to be the only goal of the quarter, and while both teams had chances to add more goals, the score at half time was East Coast 2.2.14 to Manly Warringah 3.5.23.
THIRD QUARTER
After the main break the match continued to be hard fought with plenty of in and under footy. For the Eagles, Karl Merson started to assert his dominance around the ground including kicking a goal, Zachary Johns (leading the Eagles charge from defence until he had to leave the field due to injury) and a very impressive Tim Organ led the fightback. However, the Wolves had the upper hand and would not relinquish the lead with Lachlan Channell, Taine Wright and Anthony Robertson strong around the ground. A highlight for the quarter was the goal by Jacob De Angelis who gathered cleanly and snapped truly on the right boot from 30 metres out on the boundary.
Scores at the last break was East Coast 3.2.20 to Manly Warringah an inaccurate 4.12.36.
FOURTH QUARTER
Despite an early goal from Thomas Zdrilic, it was all Manly Warringah in the final quarter, as the Wolves pilled on five goals to finish the game off with Field getting in on the action along with De Angelis, Behagg, LeJeune and Jasper Bennett. Overall, an impressive win for the young Wolves team who next host a UTS AFC with finals on their mind, while the Eagles will seek to open their account against Camden and Fairfax Reserve.
EAST COAST EAGLES 4.4.28
Goal Kickers: L. Mason, K. Merson, J. Cutting, T. Zdrilic
Best Players: K. Merson, B. Clark, A. Drinkwater, C. Dowle, K. Spencer, B. Coxall
MANLY WARRINGAH WOLVES 9.16.70
Goal Kickers: J. De Angelis 3, L. Behagg 2, N. Marsh 2, K. LeJeune, J. McMeeken
Best Players: J. Field, L. Channell, N. Marsh, T. Wright, A. Butler, J. De Angelis
PREMIER DIVISION MEN’S MATCH OF THE ROUND – NEXT WEEK
Inner West Magpies vs. Pennant Hills Demons – Picken Oval 1:00pm Sunday April 25 (ANZAC Day)
