SWFL: Skipper reported as Lions maul Eagles

The Collie Eagles missed an opportunity to snatch third place on the ladder, after suffering a shock five-point loss to Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault at the Collie Recreation Ground on Saturday.

In a dirty day for the Eagles, captain Matt Blackford was reported for striking Lions’ veteran Aaron Murphy in the second quarter and will front the Plunkett Homes SWFL tribunal tonight.

The 9.3 (57) to 7.10 (52) victory was the Lions’ fourth for the year and came on the back of desperate wet weather football and the Eagles’ poor kicking for goal for the second successive week.

Shannon Sabourne took a strong mark to post HBL’s first major two minutes in before Matt Michael equalised two minutes later.

The Lions adapted better to the swirling wind to notch up four first quarter goals.

Ash Thornton was effective up forward while Cameron Bennell was sharp and booted two goals for the quarter.

Deep in time on Adam Bignall judged the breeze perfectly to post the Eagles’ second.

Paul Lindsay had the better of the hitouts and Kyle Shanahan was busy in the middle, while Tallan Michael tackled hard to create chances, but the conditions made effective disposals difficult.

Travis Cleggett put the Eagles back within a goal midway through the second term before Blackford was sent off, with the resulting 50m penalty ending in Brendan Stemp kicking HBL’s only score for the quarter.

Three goals to two in the third quarter as the wind died gave the Lions a 16-point lead with a quarter to go.

The Eagles were effectively down to one on the bench with Blackford off and Bignall restricted and they were in trouble when Matt Michael was penalised and failed to return the ball to Sabourne who goalled from the 50m penalty.

The Lions grabbed the first major in the last term through Jimmy Mulholland to set up a 22-point lead.

Collie repeated its inaccurate kicking for goal from last week with five behinds in a row and HBL looked safe until Tim Mead and Blair Malatesta brought the Eagles within a kick with five minutes to play.

But the visitors held on to claim an upset triumph.

Scoreboard

Harv-Bruns-Lesch 4.1 5.2 8.3 9.3 57 def Collie Eagles 2.1 3.3 5.5 7.10 52

Goals:

HBL – S. Sabourne, C. Bennell, J. Mulholland 2, A. Thornton, T. Obal, B. Stemp.

COLLIE – M. Michael, A. Bignall, T. Cleggett, D. King, T. Mead, J. Swallow, B. Malatesta.

Best:

HBL – D. Kerr, M. Bicknell, A. Thornton, E. Hughes, G. Crosby, J. Mulholland.

COLLIE – T. Michael, P. Lindsay, K. Shanahan, S. Cox, S. Cox, M. Michael, C. Griggs.