Wilston Grange 7.8.50 defeated by Western Magpies 7.11.53
FULL RECAP: https://aflq.com.au/live-145pm-wilston-grange-vs-western-magpies/
It was promised as one of the games of the season.
Two evenly matched teams, who loved the contested footy, who have elite midfields, and who love to get out and run.
Guess what, it delivered.
The Western Magpies took control of third spot on the ladder today with a nail biting three-point win over Wilston Grange.
I don’t know of too many occasions that teams have won games of footy after not scoring in the first half, but the Magpies did just that.
The first quarter, and the majority of the game for that matter, was what we expected two weeks ago; tough, contested, and tight.
Cam Perkins kicked the first of the afternoon from a set shot, which was the only major of the quarter.
At the first change, the Gorillas were 10-points up.
The second quarter was played at the same tempo as the first, the Magpies just started to use the ball a bit better.
Milestone man Matt Thompson, playing game 100, kicked two for the quarter putting his stamp on the game, and giving the Magpies the lead.
The Magpies were determined to steady with the ball in hand, look backward, and then bring it out the other side of the ground.
Williams kicked a much-needed one for the Gorillas in red time to reduce the Magpies margin to four-points at the main break.
It was a different game early in the third. It went from stoppage city, to a shootout.
Trewhella clunked one in the breadbasket and goaled within 30 seconds to give the Gorillas the lead back.
Michael responded within minutes, but that lead to a mini-run by the boys in red white and blue.
McMahon snuck one home on the run, before Christie kicked a couple over his shoulder.
A late goal to Sean Mewing near on the three quarter time siren bought the Magpies back within nine-points at the final change, and it was game on.
It was all black and white in the last, but they nearly couldn’t their dominance on the scoreboard.
McEvoy kicked the first of the quarter with a long bomb from the arc, but the Gorillas instantly responded against the flow.
With five minutes to go, the ball was locked in the Magpies forward 50, but they just couldn’t convert.
Copland missed one from the square, Workman couldn’t kick one on the run, and you felt they had blown their chances.
Enter Tom Michael.
The big man found space out wide, and went back from the paint to slot one.
Cooler than the other side of the pillow.
That was the difference. When the siren rang, the Magpies were three-points up, and one game clear of the Gorillas.
What a game.
Coach’s thoughts
Matt Trewhella – Wilston Grange
“It’s tough to lose like that, but they probably should have won by a couple in the end.
“They moved the ball better in the last quarter, and we put our defense under a lot of pressure. We didn’t transition well, there was a lot of kicks down the line and their defenders took a lot of good marks late.
“It was a lot better than last time, so there was a lot you can take from today, it’s tough to swallow, but they won today, we didn’t lose it.
Glenn Humphrey – Western Magpies
“They made hard work of it, but we controlled the second half pretty well, we just had a bit of trouble converting without Dickfos and a couple of others up there.
“They set up with a lot of numbers deep, so we got the guys to lower their eyes, and use the hit up lead, and then spread the ball sideways when we could, to try and open them up when we could.
“We just had to work our way through it today, and work our way through our pressure.
“I was very happy with they way they continued to work at it all day, we know that our structures work, and we know that with our work rate and our fitness levels we can go until the end of the last quarter.”
By Andrew Wiles – @andrewjwiles
