THE Eagles began the first game back after the school holidays in the manner in which they finished off by recording a four point win at Dunsborough in an exciting match on Saturday.

With the match played in fine and sunny conditions, the Eagles were first on the board with two goals from Hayden Crawford and Jake Hedley, the former’s height in the forward line proving a handful all day, and the latter on his way to a five goal haul in a lively performance up forward and on the ball.

However, in a pattern which was repeated throughout the day, the home side fought back with two goals of their own to tie up the scores at the first break.

With Brodie Pavlinovich starting to exert some influence in the ruck, Harry Marsh dominant on one wing and Noah Campbell and Tom Uhd providing some run on the ball, the Eagles began to put some pressure on the Dunsborough defence.

Jake Hedley capped off the work with some strong marks and accurate kicking, one long bomb in the third term bouncing through from the 50m mark.

Aaron Campbell and Sonny Beruldsen were holding sway in the key defensive posts, while Wiremu Lutton and Ashley Biddulph were prominent throughout the day.

At the final change, the Eagles held a 14 point lead, however Dunsborough were kicking with a slight breeze and quickly scored a major to tighten up the game.

Clayton Shehan showed poise and class in the last line of defence to repel many attacks, while Harry Marsh continued his faultless game with sure marking and long kicking.

Tom Hewitt gave several great contests in his forward pocket, and when he drew a free kick for a high tackle, his resultant pass set up Jake Hedley for a mark and a crucial goal.

Dunsborough pegged another goal back to make the difference less than a kick with a minute to play, and when the siren finally sounded the ball was deep in their forward line as they vainly searched for the matchwinning goal.

However the Eagles deserved their win as they had led all day and have now made it three wins from their last five matches.

Next week they take on Rovers at Busselton, which should be another close game.

Scores

Eagles 10.6 (66) d Dunsborough 9.8 (62)

Goalscorers

Eagles – Jake Hedley 5, Hayden Crawford, Noah Campbell 2, Brodie Pavlinovich 1

Best

Eagles – Harry Marsh, Jake Hedley, Noah Campbell, Clayton Shehan, Brodie Pavlinovich, Tom Uhd