As the driver of the 380 bus from the Junction cruised peacefully down Bondi Road to the beach, he became alarmed to see a football hurtling towards him from out of Waverley Oval. (Jamie Vlatko was the culprit by the way.)
Unaccustomed to seeing AFL football on that ground, the driver made a mental note to check the scores when he drove back up to the city. But alas when he did, it was well and truly over. The Eagles had had a sparkling finish, putting quite a few nails into a very weary UTS coffin last Saturday.
It was an unusual game of football; one of two halves as they say. The first quarter was tight, with the Eagles leading at the break but struggling to get a handle on the new ground. UTS were playing attacking footy and probably deserved to be in front. Glenn Garner was cool, calm and collected in his address, encouraging his team to maintain their concentration into the second quarter and the scoreboard would take care of itself. But it didn’t quite happen as everyone figured it would.
The BATS just couldn’t be shrugged off that easily and it was a different Garner at the long break when he tore into the players in a fashion we haven’t seen for some time. Positional changes were made, bottles of PowerAde consumed, mindsets were altered and a transformed East Coast Eagles emerged from the change rooms ready for the third quarter. UTS, quite rightfully, were confident they could go on with it and get their second win for the season, but they weren’t quite ready for the second half onslaught that followed.
From a 14-point deficit at the long break, the BATS went down in the end by 89 points. The Eagles surged forward time and time again led by Jack Dimery off half-back, Ben Rogers running riot in the forward line, the flying tackler Brad Ure in the middle and our new hero Leif Stuart in the ruck. Eight goals in each of the final two quarters was testimony to the resolve of each player who was hurting from the poor first half.
Watching from the sidelines were nine Eagles who can reasonably be expected to be returning to the Premier Division side across the next few weeks as they recover from various niggles. The team has retained its position at the top of the table and will be looking to cement that spot over the last three minor round matches against Campbelltown, Illawarra and Western Suburbs.
For all scores and details on every Eagles game in all grades, please visit www.sydneyafl.com.au.
UTS: 4.1 7.3 9.6 11.7 (73)
East Coast Eagles: 5.4 8.11 16.15 24.18 (162)
Goal kickers: Jamie Vlatko 4, Ben Rogers 4, Peter Vlatko 3, Leif Stuart 2, Ash Moeller 2, Jackson Dwyer 2, Brad Ure 2, Trent Baker, Mark Goodey, Ryan Fitton, Dominic Killworth, Mark Maher.
Best players: Jack Dimery, Ben Rogers, Brad Ure, Leif Stuart, Jamie Vlatko, Jackson Dwyer.
Extravaganza
Premier Division
Best: Jack Dimery owned by Steve Gawley $200
First free: Leif Stuart owned by Steve Gawley $50
Division One
Best: Scott Pierce owned by J Frost & P Physick $100
First free: Jared Madden owned by Maree Gawley $50
Division Three
Best: Nathan Peters owned by Alan O’Connor $30
Next week’s games
Saturday, August 6
Bruce Purser Reserve
1pm Division Three v Campbelltown
2.10pm Premier Division v Campbelltown
5.00pm Division One v Manly-Warringah
North Dalton Park - Wollongong
10am U/18 Premier Cup v Illawarra
Rosedale Park
10.30am U/18 Challenge Cup v Moorebank
