SANFL 2006 ROUND 16: WOODVILLE-WEST TORRENS v WEST ADELAIDE

All topsy turvy at Woodville

By NICK BOWEN

IT WAS a confusing day in many ways at Woodville Oval last Saturday when the second-placed Eagles took on cellar dweller West Adelaide.

For starters Round 17's Living in the '70s theme left you thinking you had been transported back to the '70s such was the abundance of safari suits, afros, mullets and moustaches at the ground.

Then at the end of a cold and windy day you had winners who sounded like losers and losers who sounded like winners.

It was no real surprise Woodville West Torrens recorded its 10th win in a row against the Bloods - in the end by a comfortable 17.14 (116) to 12.4 (76) - but what was surprising was the trouble they had putting West away. Despite claiming top spot on the ladder with the win, after North Adelaide's loss to Norwood at Prospect, Eagles' coach Ron Fuller was far from excited. He said it had been a “day of attrition” and his players had seemed flat and had not played with their usual fluency.

“We went inside 50 enough to score 100 points but there was nothing convincing about it,” he said.

“The only time we looked dangerous was when Matty Cooper gave us a spark in the third quarter.”

But just to emphasise the strange nature of the day, the Bloods outscored the Eagles in the third quarter by three points, rattling on seven goals after being held to just 2.2 (14) in the first half.

Despite West fading in the last quarter to go down by 40 points, Bloods coach Wayne Weidemann was brimming with pride after the game.

“I thought we took it up to one of the best sides in the competition,” Weidemann said.

“Our effort today was very good – it was a four-quarter performance.”

Weidemann was particularly pleased with Haynes (31 possessions), Welsh (six goals), and 20-year-old Ben Grieger's effort on the competition's leading goal-kicker, Eagles' full-forward Mark Passador.

For the Eagles, midfielder Tim Inkster was again a standout with 30 possessions, while vice-captain Justin Cicolella, Vinnie Rugolo, Cooper and Passador were all solid contributors.

Looking forward to next week, the Eagles will look to use the eight day break before their clash this Sunday with South Adelaide to “generally sharpen up”, Fuller said.

Meantime Weidemann was hoping for more of the same from his side in their clash with North Adelaide this week.

“If we play like we did today for the rest of the season, we will win more than we lose,” he said.

SCORES: Woodville-West Torrens 4.3 6.7 12.12 17.14 (116) defeated West Adelaide 1.0 2.2 9.4 12.4 (76).

BEST: Eagles – Inkster, Cicolella, Rugolo, Cooper, Passador; West – Welsh, Haynes, Hollands, Donaldson, Jericho.

GOALS: Eagles – Passador 7, Cooper, Jacobs 2, Fairclough, Rugolo, Inkster, Trocke, Jarrad, Powell; West – Welsh 6, Buckley, Haynes 2, Hollands, Bayliss.