By Eaglesafc.com
06:16 PM Mon 17 Aug, 2009
FOR THE SECOND WEEK in a row the Toronto Eagles have made a statement to the rest of the league, with a decisive win over the Central Blues on the weekend.
For almost three quarters the Eagles keep the Blues scoreless with hard running, direct ball movement and solid defence. Even with the sweltering heat, it was a solid four quarters of football from the Eagles.
“This was an exceptional performance from everyone” stated Eagles coach Aaron Falcioni. “For four quarters the boys played some solid football against a decent opponent, it was good to see it all come together”
The Blues, who have been struggling the past month, found it extremely hard to enter their forward fifty and when doing so, found it harder to score. Their midfielders were also finding it frustrating to clear the football from the centre and find a direct passage forward.
The first and second quarter was all one way traffic for the Eagles, dominating the play around the ground. The Eagles defence was exceptional, not allowing the Blues to score a single point for the half and setting up attacks from the backline.
The Eagles midfield was also dominate controlling the play from the centre bounce and setting up the forwards, who were finding their range and the middle of the goals. The Eagles finished the first half 46 point’s in front kicking six goals and ten points.
“Our midfield was great today, the boys really pushed hard around the ground” stated Eagle, Andrew Garth. “They (Blues) just weren’t able to keep up with our intensity and demand for the football.”
The third quarter was another strong one for the Eagles, who were able to extend their lead by kicking six goals to the Blues one. In a total display of dominance the Eagles finished the quarter 73 points in front of the Blues, who looked down and out with one quarter still to go.
One of the contributing factors to that dominance was the performance of Kevin Minaker in tagging one of the Blues best midfielders. Minaker was able to nullify his opponent for most of the match and even made an impact in the final quarter, contributing in setting up a few goals. “Everyone has a role to do on the team which assists in our game plan” Minaker stated “I was given a job to do today and I feel I succeeded.”
Other standouts for the game were Troy Marsh who performed at his usual best, working tirelessly around the ground and kicking five goals. Tasos Dimicakos had the backline working like clockwork, only allowing three goals to be scored against them and showing why they are considered the leagues best.
The forward line was headed by Mark Peterson, who found some form kicking six goals and being a prominent target up forward. “We had a great day out in the park today” stated Peterson. “Not only did the midfield and backline play extremely well but the forward line performed a lot better than last week.”
Next weekend the Eagles head to the home of the Broadview Hawks, for the second “Battle of the Big Birds” of 2009.
TORONTO EAGLES 4.5 6.10 11.13 16.14 (110)
CENTRAL BLUES 0.0 0.0 1.0 3.1 (19)
GOALS
Peterson 6, Marsh 5, Alister 3, Marchese, Falcioni
BEST
Marsh, Minaker, Dimacakos, Garth, Alister
INJURIES
Nil
Reports: Nil
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.
