West Coast’s finals hopes are on life support following a heart-breaking six-point loss to North Melbourne in a thrilling AFL encounter at Gold Coast Stadium last night.
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The Kangaroos triumphed 13.11 (89) to 12.11 (83), consigning the 15th-placed Eagles to their seventh straight defeat — one short of their record losing streak set in 2001 when Ken Judge was sacked as coach and replaced by John Worsfold.
For a fixture that was criticised all week amid fears of a poor attendance after the Kangaroos snubbed the Gold Coast last year and decided to stay based in Melbourne, the game certainly exceeded expectations in front of a healthy 6,354-strong crowd.
The scores were level at 82 apiece when a Matt Campbell goal handed the Kangaroos the edge and they soaked up the pressure, despite one of the stadium lights switching off.
Giant ruckman David Hale, who booted three goals for North Melbourne, kicked a late behind for the “home side” to ensure that the Eagles could only draw the match in the dying seconds.
But former powerhouse West Coast could only manage a behind themselves to suffer their first loss at Carrara since entering the competition in 1987.
They had their chances to win but couldn’t convert and the frustration mounted.
Roos skipper Adam Simpson had 26 disposals while for the Eagles, Brent Staker booted three goals and Chad Fletcher had a game-high 29 possessions.
Shannon Grant and Nathan Thompson each bagged two goals as did Josh Kennedy, Ben McKinley and Quinten Lynch for West Coast.
On-baller Daniel Harris also had a strong game for the `Roos, who take on the Western Bulldogs at Telstra Dome next weekend.
North Melbourne started strongly with four straight goals in the opening quarter before the Eagles hit back with three majors to trail by just five points at the first break.
West Coast surged ahead in the second quarter following a four-goal blitz to open up a 20-point lead.
But the Kangaroos clawed their way back into a gripping contest as Hale took a superb mark in front of goal en route to bridging the deficit to just three points.
Eagles midfielder Michael Braun had a brain explosion which put North Melbourne in front late in the third quarter.
He conceded a free kick by pushing Simpson in the back and the veteran defender made no mistake in booting a goal to take advantage.
Josh Kennedy kicked a major to reduce the margin to three points and set up a nail-biting finish.
Half-forward flanker Lindsay Thomas took a screamer of a mark but unfortunately he couldn’t convert and kicked a behind.
McKinley’s second goal for the Eagles locked up the scores at 82-all.
North Melbourne and Victorian representative midfielder Brent Harvey was reported for tripping Matt Priddis in the third quarter.
Kangaroos half-forward Alan Obst played out the opening quarter with a punctured lung before he was taken to hospital.
He’ll have to be driven back to Melbourne.
“I was really pleased with Hale and (Hamish) McIntosh through the ruck,” North Melbourne coach Dean Laidley said.
“Campbell and Thomas were always looking dangerous and the forward workrate was just great.
“Harris probably had his best game of the year. I was super-pleased with that.”
Laidley said he never discussed with his players the possibility of a hostile reaction tonight from the Gold Coast AFL fans.
“We couldn’t have cared less if there was no one here,” he remarked.
“We would’ve made sure we played well and did what we needed to do for our supporters back home.”
Worsfold said there were plenty of positives to emerge from the loss.
“I think tonight was a pretty good improvement on our previous performance (a loss to Carlton),” he noted.
“We played with more confidence and self-belief tonight.
“They need to now build on that. They’re going to get beaten by some good sides as the year unfolds but we think we can beat some of those sides as well.”
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