Big Phil wrote:Trial Game – Port v Eagles @ Alberton – Sat 28/2/09
After watching the Redlegs take care of Glenelg at Coopers Stadium last night, I headed down to Alberton Oval this afternoon to catch the action from the Port v Eagles trial game starting at 1pm. I was pretty impressed with what I saw from both sides in the end.
RESERVES FINAL SCORE:
EAGLES 7.3 = 45
PORT 6.6 = 42
I only managed to catch the last quarter of the reserves clash which was a bit of a low scoring affair. The Eagles managed to hold on for a 3 point win despite a desperate comeback by the Maggies late in the game. Former North Adelaide player Paul Campbell has transferred over to the Eagles and did a couple of nice things from what I saw of the game.
LEAGUE SCORES:
EAGLES 2.3 6.5 10.6 11.9 = 75
PORT 3.1 3.1 7.3 10.5 = 65
BETTER PLAYERS:
EAGLES: Passador, Broadbent, Cicolella, Mckenzie, Stewart, McGregor, P.Fiacchi
PORT: Dolling, Young, Murray, Clayton, Ah Chee, Mercer, Batson
Port Adelaide started the game with a number of their new recruits on display and got off to a great start with 2 quick goals to the impressive Jarrod Young. Jordan Barham started in the forward lines but was well held for the first 3 quarters by former Crow Ken McGregor before spending the rest of the game on the bench. Tim Ginevar was keen on seeing as many of his charges as possible giving 34 players an opportunity throughout the game while Ron Fuller only had the 22 players on display.
Power listed Matthew Lobbe started the game well both up forward and rucking around the ground, before a heavy collision with Power team mate Paul Stewart led to Lobbe being dazed and not knowing where he was. The home side controlled the first stages of the opening term before the Eagles took control in the latter stages. Justin Cicolella was winning plenty of the ball for Woodville West Torrens while new recruit Jay Cheep was showing he isn’t afraid of a hard contest, showing a bit of grunt.
The Eagles got off to a fast start in the 2nd term with Mark Passador proving to be a major focal point up forward kicking 3 quick goals, ending up with 4 first half majors and finishing with 6 for the game. Impressive Power draftee Matthew Broadbent was controlling the half back line for the visitors, providing plenty of run and drive while Tom Corbett was also handy both on the ball and off a half back flank. Matthew Lokan was moved onto Passador to try and quell his influence while the Eagles managed to keep the Magpies scoreless for the entire 2nd term whilst kicking 4 goals themselves.
The Magpies kicked off the 2nd half with an early goal to veteran Clive Waterhouse but the Eagles answered straight back with 2 of their own, through Cicolella and Passador. Another Power listed player in Paul Stewart was a solid contributor across half back and through the midfield while impressive Port youngster Brad Mercer popped up with 2 goals in the 3rd term throughout a 10 minute period that was controlled by the Magpies. With a large number of interchange players, the Magpies were rotating plenty of their senior group, giving game time to some of their more younger players, while both sides kicked 4 goals a piece in the 3rd quarter giving the visitors a 21 point lead at lemons.
Calling it a day at ¾ time for players like Jeremy Clayton, Ah Chee, Summerton, Dolling, Lokan, Saunders, Elstone and DePasquale, the Magpies had a fairly inexperienced line up out on the park to finish the game off. The skills from both sides eventually dropped off in the game causing it to be a fairly scrappy affair throughout the last term, but with the 2 quick goals to youngster Jay Shannon, the Magpies were a chance to sneak an unlikely win late but eventually ran out of time. James McEntee had a few good moments for the Eagles playing across half forward while skipper Mark Mackenzie showed his class all over the ground. In the end, the Eagles did enough to win comfortably and will be happy with their performance.
Campbell is very pacey and added something up forward in the two's.
Mcentee was named in the two's but played in the league as Salter was called up for the Power.
Was very happy to see the Eagle boys attack the ball or hunt the ball in large numbers .
And Port fans the scoreline in both games was very flattering to your club.Your seconds kicked the first goal and then did nothing until 6 players were brought on after half time .eagles were very quick in the two's.
And before i have Port up in arms .I thought when Port kicked its third goal they had started the way they ended the Eagles season last year .But Eagles soon kicked into gear .what saved Port was the large numbers on the bench and this like the seconds game almost won the day.
Plus the scoreboard attendant had a small amount of trouble adding up the score at 1 point.
you had to love new boy Cheep giving as good as he got from Port players .And I would think Power officials would have had their hearts in their mouths watching Paul Stewart going down and being unable to get up for a small amount of time.I was laughing at the thought of one Port Adelaide sending a please explain to the other Port Adelaide
thanks for the great review BP
Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 4:08 pm
:):):)