On a perfect day for football in the garden city, the Eagles and Blues fought it out for the right to play in the grand final against reigning premiers, the Christchurch Bulldogs.
Both sides were without some regulars, with the greater impact being on the Eagles, who were unable to field a full team for the cut-throat match. Starting with only 16-men, they gallantly ran themselves into the ground in the first 10-minutes, scoring the first two goals and creating a panic amongst the lethargic Blues. As tiredness took over, leaving too much to too few, the Blues slowly gained the ascendency and by quarter time had amassed a handy 20-point lead, which grew to 49-points by half time.
Eagles players came and went, depending on when uni-exams were scheduled, but the most they had on the park at any time was 17, with several players carrying injuries that otherwise would have meant a rest from action. The Eagles stacked their defence in a bid to limit the damage, but this meant nothing was available up forward when the ball went into their half of the ground. There were some outstanding efforts from Josh Robles, Richie Hazlewood and Matt Crighton, but this was never going to be enogh against a Blues squad consisting of 22 fit and able.
Cam Labransky was a welcome inclusion for the Blues, after a long absence, in the ruck and the usual eleusive forwards, Dan Benny sand Logan Toomer were always dangerous around goal. It was great to see PNG'ers Reg jalina and Elton Tunkia out there for the Blues. These two lads only launched their AFL career this year and show that they thoroughly enjoy the experience.
The Eagles sounded their war cry at the start of the last and pushed forward relentlessly for the first 5-minutes, without success, while the Blues defence led by James Bowden and Jared Court stood resolute. In the end, the game was a canter for the Blues.
In future, the CAFL may need to look at other options for the finals series, either re-scheduling the games to a twilight fixture that allows all students to participate, or start the season later to ensure finals occur outside the exam period.
Final scores:
Blues 16 17 113 def Eagles 5 5 35
Best Blues: L Ingliss, Labransky, Toomer, Benny, Court, Hyde
Best Eagles: Robles, Crighton, Hazlewood, Burr
Last Modified on 04/11/2014 19:13