Under 15s

EAGLES and Rovers fought out an entertaining duel at Gloucester Park on Saturday, but it was the visitors who took the points after a strong third quarter surge gave them a match-winning lead.

After all the rain of the previous week, the match was played in mostly fine conditions, barring a second quarter shower, and the surface condition had stood up remarkably well to the deluge.

Rovers were first out of the blocks with two goals as the Eagles were slow to start, however midway through the quarter they began to click into gear, and a great snap from Blake Glover and an opportunistic soccer from Dave Harwood brought them back into the match.

In the second quarter the Eagles attacked relentlessly, with Brodie Pavlinovich on top in the ruck, Tom Uhd, Jordan Veitch and Harry Marsh winning the ball out of the centre and Aaron Campbell, Werimu Lutton and Ashley Biddulph all providing a physical presence down the spine.

Harry put in a claim for mark of the year at one point, while Jake Hedley was handling the wet ball with ease in the middle.

Despite their dominance however, the Eagles lacked a focal point in front of goal and their return of one goal and eight points for the quarter proved costly in the final analysis.

In contrast, Rover’s solitary forward sortie for the quarter produced a goal, which was enough to give them a two point lead at the half.

The third term was an arm wrestle for the most part, but a period of dominance of about eight minutes saw Rovers kick four goals and establish a decisive break.

Sonny Beruldsen, the returning Matt Elliot and Jarrod McGill were terrific in defence throughout the game, but were unable to halt the tide of ball flowing their way in this quarter.

In the final term, despite the ball spending large periods in the Eagles’ attacking zone, they were only able to put one goal on the scoreboard, an effort matched by the visitors, who held on for a comfortable win.

It was a commendable effort by the Eagles, who will this week front up to top team Wanderers in a tough test of their ability.

Scores

Rovers 9.6 (60) d Eagles 4.8 (32)

Goalscorers: Eagles–Blake Glover, Dave Harwood, Hayden Crawford, Jordan Veitch

Best: Eagles–Harry Marsh, Jake Hedley, Blake Glover, Aaron Campbell, Jarrod McGill, Tom Uhd