Eagles fly into finals after thrilling finish

West Coast have beaten the ladder leading Adelaide Crows by 29 points, enough to move themselves above Melbourne and into eighth spot on the ladder.

At the beginning of this game the Eagles knew they needed to win by about 21 points or more to sneak into eighth spot.

Their task appeared to be easier after an indifferent opening term by the Crows, who themselves had nothing to play for. That lack of motivation was reflected in the tackle count to quarter time – 16 to 5 in favour of the home team.

That translated into a 19 point lead to West Coast at the first change, and with Melbourne fans gnashing their teeth on the other side of the country it looked like the Eagles were going to run away and win comfortably.

But in the second quarter the Crows began to show a bit more intent, and with their superior effectiveness narrowed the margin to just two points.

A late flurry of goals for the Eagles pushed the margin back out to seventeen points at half time, and at that stage their season was on an knife edge.

It was a tense opening to the third quarter, but with the Subiaco crowd urging them on the Eagles began to get on top, kicking four consecutive goals and stretching the lead out to 39 points at one stage.

The last quarter was a strange affair. Two tiring sides, one with nothing to play for and the other with everything.

The Eagles certainly had more territory throughout the term, but couldn’t quite find the same effectiveness they had in the first three quarters.

Instead, the Crows’ counterattacking footy began to have an impact. As the Eagles kept missing chances, the ladder leaders took theirs, and at the twenty-minute mark Charlie Cameron’s goal narrowed the margin to 17 points, critically bringing West Coast’s percentage down below Melbourne’s and putting them outside the eight.

That came at the end of a period where West Coast had scored four consecutive behinds and Adelaide kicked three consecutive goals.

But Lewis Jetta immediately responded with a classy goal, putting the Eagles narrowly above the mark to finish in eighth.

Minutes later, a fine mark to Jack Darling allowed him to kick his side further in front.

While Adelaide seemed to be doing all they could to deny the Eagles that finals spot in the last minutes, the home side held on to win by 29 points. They finished with a percentage of 105.7 compared to Melbourne’s 105.2.

Had Adelaide scored just 9 more points it would be the Demons playing in two weeks time.

But as it is, West Coast have done enough to make another finals series, their fourth in seven years. They’ll travel to Adelaide in two weeks to play the Power. And they’ll take heart from having done enough to earn that right.

Sam Mitchell was probably best on ground in his last home and away game as an AFL player. Gaff and Shuey were also very good, while Cripps kicked three goals.

For the Crows, I doubt they’ll be too concerned by this game despite the loss. There was nothing on the line for them today.

While no doubt disappointed Demons fans will grumble about their performance, there were some fine individual games by the visitors, in particular from the Crouch brothers, who both had over 40 disposals.

They remain on top of the ladder, and can take two weeks to recover before hosting the Giants at Adelaide Oval in a huge qualifying final.

This was the last AFL game to be played at Subiaco Oval, a venue which has had some memorable moments over the last few decades. This was a fitting way to send out a piece of footy history.