Football: Tiger cubs roar, down Eagles

An inspired South Bunbury produced a stunning performance to score a convincing 26-point SWFL victory over a listless Collie Eagles at the Collie Recreation Ground on Saturday night.

The Tigers jumped last year’s grand finalists with a blistering first quarter and were never seriously threatened on their way to an 11.15 (81) to 7.13 (55) win.

Souths led 4.6 to 0.1 at the first break as Shaun Crane, Damon Bull and Matt Giacci dominated to give their forwards plenty of opportunities, starting with a Guy Piggott goal in the opening minute.

In fact, it was only poor kicking that stopped the visitors leading by seven or eight goals, with Craig Field the main offender as he missed three gettable shots.

There was no question a team of Collie’s quality would fight back, and the move of Brendan Marshall onto the ball was the spark.

He and Dave Cowan turned the tide, with the first rally coming mid-way through the second term after Matt Michael finally kicked his team’s first goal 12 minutes in.

Blair Malatesta and Travis Cleggett made it three in three minutes to cut the margin to 11, but when Paul Rinder, who played well, and Will Cleggett made a mess of a chance for a fourth, the Tigers pounced.

A great boundary line snap from Nat Fielding swung the momentum again, with Crane and Piggott booting their second goals to re-establish the advantage.

A 55m goal after the half-time siren to Michael made it 23 points and could have been the spark which saw the Eagles take over, but South Bunbury was having none of that.

The Tigers bared their claws with three quick goals to lead by 42 and seal the victory.

Giacci continued to dominate, Bull and Tyson Lee linked up well and Shaun Crane was terrific in the clinches, while Piggott (3.2) provided a dangerous target up forward.

Collie kicked three late goals through Michael, Tyson Keene and Adam Bignall, but Morgan Lane made it a 34-point lead turning for home.

The Eagles tried to fight back in the last term, but Souths defended grimly and Michael’s fourth was the only goal as Tiger supporters erupted in delight at full time.

Michael did all he could to keep Collie alive and Daniel Graham was impressive behind the ball.

Score Card

South Bunbury 4.6 7.9 11.13 11.15 81 def Collie Eagles 0.1 4.4 6.7 7.13 55

Goals:

SOUTH BUNBURY – G. Piggott 3, S. Crane 2, B. Piggott, D. Bull, N. Fielding, F. Miller, J. Ryder, M. Lane. COLLIE EAGLES – M. Michael 4, B. Malatesta, T. Cleggett, T. Keene.

Best:

SOUTH BUNBURY – M. Giacci, D. Bull, S. Crane, T. Lee, G. Piggott, J. Tindall.

COLLIE EAGLES – M. Michael, D. Graham, B. Marshall, P. Rinder, D. Cowan, B. Whelan.