The Collie Eagles defeated the Busselton Magpies in a thrilling match on Saturday, May 27.
The intense twilight game was played at Stewart Bovell Park infront of a vocal crowd.
It was a special match for Busselton’s Sam Sheperd, playing his 250th game.
Busselton coach Steve Lester was impressed with the teams improvement in recent weeks.
“Reflecting back on the last three weeks we have definitely shown significant improved, while we didn’t get the end result we do have some positives to take away,” Lester said.
The Magpies started strong, with Ben Daniels scoring the first goal of the game early in the first quarter.
Collie got off to a rocky start, scoring a few points early on before finding their form with Joel Houghton scoring their first goal.
The Eagles then went on to score several more goals, with the first quarter scores sitting at 3.7(16) to Busselton’s 1.0(6).
Busselton fought back hard in the second quarter, quickly gaining the lead.
Captain Aiden Fraser kept the pressure on the Eagles, with multiple posessions.
The home crowd let the Magpies know they were behind them all the way, cheering loudly as Busselton scored their second and third goals.
The Eagles fought hard against them but the Magpies kept strong bringing, taking the lead.
By the end of the second quarter the scores sat at Busselton 6.5(41) to Collie’s 4.10(34).
Collie brought their A game to the third quarter, scoring two goals in quick sucession, before then going on to score another four throughout the quarter.
Busselton fought back hard, with Ben Daniels scoring a goal on the siren.
The action packed quarter left the scores at Busselton 10.7(67) to Collie 10.13(73) with only six points between the two teams.
Tensions were high in the final quarter, with both teams aggressively fighting for the lead.
Collie used several free kicks to their advantage, with Jayce Fontana and Joel Houghton scoring back to back goals.
Eagle Captain Matthew Blackford kept the pressue on his team, repeatedly telling them they “gotta be hungry”.
In the end, his pep talk worked and the Eagles proved too strong for the Magpies with the final scores sitting at 12.20 (92) to 10.11(71).
The action pack game saw Busselton’s Jed Kemp injured. The extent of his injury is unknown at this stage however Lester believes he will miss some games.
The match sees Collie remain at the top of the ladder, while Busselton remain at the bottom.
The Busselton Magpies will face off against the Carey Park Panthers next Saturday, June 3 in Bunbury.
“The boys are dissapointed, we did have it the lead well and truly by half time but were unable to capatalise on it, however looking forward we are determined to get a win on the board,” Lester said.
“We will continue improving and stay motivated.”
Collie Eagles will play a home game against the Donnybrook Football club on Sunday, June 4.
Round 7 saw Harvey Brunswick Leschenault defeat the Donnybrook Football club by two points, with the final scores sitting at 10.4(64) to 9.8(62).
The Carey Park versus Bunbury game saw the third tie of the season, with the Bulldogs and the Panthers finishing the four quarters locked together, 10.9.69 to 11.3.69 at Kelly Park on Sunday, March 28.
The game sees Carey Park move off the bottom of the ladder.
The Harvey Bulls had a win this week against the Augusta Margaret River Hawks, with the final results sitting at 16.12(108) to 5.11(41).
Round 7 also saw South Bunbury defeat Eaton Boomers at Hands Oval on Sunday.
