Under 15s

THE Eagles may have gone down to top side Wanderers at Bovell Park on Saturday, but they won plenty of admirers with a spirited display of fighting football.

Despite fielding only 20 players against a complement of 25 to the Busselton side, the team played out of their skins to be within three goals at the three quarter time break.

The strong home side kicked away with the strengthening breeze in the last term, scoring seven goals to nil to blow out the final margin, however the scoreline flattered the victors and belied a gutsy effort by the Eagles.

It was not all bad news for the Eagles as they welcomed back co-captains Brodie Pavlinovich and Werimu Lutton, the former returning from just a week’s absence with a wrist injury, and the latter making his first appearance for over a month due to a hip injury.

Both were solid contributors, Brodie at centre half forward and in the ruck, and Werimu at fullback, adding a strong physical presence.

The Eagles’ best player was the dynamic Adrian Gosatti, who was both the smallest and most courageous player on the ground, winning plenty of ball in the middle, laying countless tackles on bigger opponents and being a dangerous presence up forward, where he was the leading goalscorer for the side with three.

His first goal came from a strong mark and 50m penalty as he was harshly dealt with after, while his second was a freakish snap as he was being slung to the ground that rolled and tumbled through the goalsquare and just beat a desperate lunge by the defender.

He showed his full array of skills by snapping a third on his left foot.

The Eagles were also well served by their younger players in Harry Marsh, Noah Campbell and Jake Selwood, who continue to take giant steps in their football apprenticeships.

Harry and Noah were dashing and direct through the middle of the ground, while Jake took countless team saving marks in his back pocket to keep the Wanderers at bay.

Hayden Crawford is another first year player being called upon to perform a big task each week, in the ruck and at centre half forward and he was another big contributor.

The senior players were not to be outdone, with Jake Hedley and Tom Uhd prominent in the middle of the ground, Matt Elliott and Justin Haddow continuing their fine seasons in defence and Ashley Biddulph excelling in the unaccustomed position of centre.

Aaron Campbell was asked to play a number of different roles down the middle of the ground and did so superbly, his improved marking a real feature of his game.

So while the end score showed another loss to the Eagles, there were plenty of positives for coach Paul Pavlinovich, who was rightly proud of his charges at the end of the match.

The Eagles’ final match before the midyear break is at home to Countrys.

Final scores

Wanderers 16.13 (109) d Eagles 6.5 (41)

Goalscorers

Eagles–Gosatti 3, Hedley, A Campbell, N Campbell 1

Best players

Eagles–Adrian Gosatti, Jake Selwood, Harry Marsh, Hayden Crawford, Aaron Campbell, Brodie Pavlinovich