The weary Western Magpies battled hard against ladder leader Morningside on Saturday at Chelmer before going down by 104 points, 26.7-163 to 8-11-59. With 17 players either injured or unavailable from the list the playing depth of the Pies has been tested in recent weeks.
The final score does not tell the full tale of the match as the Pies battled hard and matched their opponents for long periods but the physical strength and greater options of the Panthers saw them able to break away late in each of the first three quarters to boot goals to gradually extend their lead.
The last quarter saw the Pies run out of gas as Morningside piled on 10 unanswered goals to inflate the final scoreline.
As is often the case when a strong team meets a battling team the battling team match it with their opponents for 20 minutes a quarter but have to work harder than their opponents to stay with them and then concentration lapses and fitness catches up with them and the better team take control late in quarters or the match. This is what happened in damp conditions on Saturday. For the first three quarters the Pies intensity matched the visitors for 20 minutes then the Panthers would kick a swag of late quarter goals.
The last quarter saw the Pies run out of legs and they had little in the tank to hold the flag favourites out.
The Pies lost half forward Matt Davis in the first quarter with concussion and half forward Matt Garland injured a calf and ankle in the third quarter and was off the for the last quarter.
Best players for the Magpies were 18 yo Redland based Tom Michael who took some good grabs and worked hard up the ground, Sean Mewing and Chris Hunt across half back with Mewing working hard to stem the tide in his best game of the year. Dom Beer in ruck was again tireless and Mitchell Stallard showed his class with sure ball-handling skills and good decision making combined with a good work ethic.
Redland based Jordan Bain competed hard at full forward to boot 4 goals to take his season’s tally to 59 goals. He has just missed out on winning the league’s goalkicking award by 2 goals—not a bad effort in a side that won 5 matches. If his accuracy improved—he also kicked over a 100 behinds—then he would surely have won the goalkicking award.
Redlands based Blaec Ablett also had his best game for the Pies across half back with some telling marks early in the match.
The Magpies will do their post season review shortly before the clubs Presentation Night in early October.
The Reserves finished fourth and will take on Broadbeach at Broadbeach on Sunday in the Elimination Final and several senior players will be eligible for the finals.
Last Modified on 26/08/2014 12:36