THE Mallee Eagles have delivered Brent Sheahan two straight wins to start his coaching career, withstanding a determined Swan Hill outfit at Lalbert on Saturday.
The Eagles led at every break and eventually ran out 13.12.90 to 12.7.79 winners over the Swans.
A four-goals-to-two opening quarter eventually proved to be the difference between the sides.
The other major factor on the game was the performance of Sam Dunstan, with the Eagles recruit following last week’s six goal performance with a nine-goal haul.
Dunstan was unstoppable on the lead – particularly in the first half, putting eight majors on the board before half-time.
Although ultimately disappointed to miss out on the four points, Swan Hill co-coach Matt Wade told The Guardian he was pleased in his sides improved performance from the week before.
“The effort was there and the intensity was there – I thought we definitely improved on our ball use and ball movement from last week, but we just couldn’t quite get the score on the board,” Wade said.
“We controlled the ball really well, but maybe we just weren’t quite as penetrating by foot going forward, which cost us.”
“I thought we won the cleaner ball out of the middle throughout the day and won the contested footy – but they seemed to rebound off our mistakes, which was similar to what happened the week before against Kerang and they kicked goals from a lot of fast, easy ball movement.”
With the Eagles preferring to move the ball with speed off half-back, it was difficult for Swan Hill to defend – especially when their opposition were able to pick their way through their press, according to Wade.
“Our press sort of fell down and then they just got easy goals over the back – in general play and contested footy I think we did really well, we fed the ball backwards and worked well together, but just didn’t quite get the score on the board when we had our opportunities, whereas they capitalised on their chances,” Wade said.
The Eagles had just three goal scorers for the afternoon, with Jack Shannahan and Sheahan joining Dunstan with two goals each. Toby Sheahan and Harry Allen were again superb through the middle for the home side, while Ayden Tessari also played an influential game in defence for the Eagles.
Wade was at his dominant best out of the middle for the Swans, while Mitch Makepeace also provided a strong target up forward and finished as his team’s major goalkicker with four, while Jarvis Keogh, Matthew Battenally, Cooper Angus and key defender Brendan Blackmore were also among Swan Hill’s better players.
The Swans’ next encounter with Lake Boga after Easter is now a must win, with their season teetering at 0-2. Finals hopes quickly starting to fade. The Mallee Eagles on the other hand are perfectly placed and win go in as favourites in their next match against Nyah-Nyah West United.
VOTES
3 votes Ayden Tessari (Mallee Eagles)
2 votes Sam Dunstan (Mallee Eagles)
1 votes Matthew Wade (Swan Hill)
MATCH REPORT
MALLEE EAGLES 4.3 10.3 11.7 13.12.90
SWAN HILL 2.3 8.5 9.7 12.7.79
GOALS – MALLEE EAGLES – Sam Dunstan 9, Jack Shannahan 2, Brent Sheahan 2.
SWAN HILL – Mitch Makepeace 4, Xavier Moloney 3, Matthew Wade, Tom Spicer, Tom Pontell, Buol Majur, Kallen Heslop 1.
BEST PLAYERS – MALLEE EAGLES – Ayden Tessari, Toby Sheahan, Harry Allen, Harry McGregor, Jack Shannahan, Zac O’Meara
SWAN HILL – Matthew Wade, Mitchell Makepeace, Jarvis Keogh, Cooper Angus, Brendan Blackmore, Matthew Battenally
