Astray Dogs kick it away
The Sunday Age
Sunday August 9, 2009
RIGHT up until the final siren of an engrossing game and a thrilling finish, you couldn't be sure West Coast was finally about to break its two-year losing streak on the road and cause the upset of the season in the process. But you already knew that the Eagles who had turned up to Etihad Stadium yesterday were made of far sterner stuff.The signs that something strange was afoot came early. The Western Bulldogs missed a couple of chances, while West Coast, with virtually its first attack, had Tim Houlihan splitting the middle.The Eagles were up, as though the surprise win over Essendon last week had simply spilt into a fifth quarter. The Dogs, meanwhile, like their last three quarters against Fremantle last week, looked like a team that thought it simply had to turn up to win. Not making it easier was the fact they couldn't hit the side of a barn.Lindsay Gilbee, newcomer Easton Wood and Callan Ward all missed. So did Adam Cooney. All the while the Eagles made every touch count. Ben McKinley had the second goal up after 17 minutes, Josh Kennedy the third, and when Brad Johnson sprayed horribly a shot right on the siren, the Bulldogs went to the first change still goalless.Even that, though, was only a little taste of what was about to happen.For the first 20 minutes of the second quarter, West Coast took a little trip back in time to 2006 €” with largely a different cast.The older hands, skipper Darren Glass and Shannon Hurn among them, were great, but so, too were the kids, Kennedy, who finished with four goals, monstering Tom Williams at centre half-forward, Tom Swift giving Cooney as good as he got, and Scott Selwood taking the cue from his older brother.The Eagles unleashed, continuing to kick goals efficiently, and on occasion, effortlessly.Andrew Embley had the first before things had even got underway. Then Quinten Lynch pounced on a shocking Cooney turnover. Embley booted another, then David Wirrpanda, Brad Ebert and Kennedy again.Hard as it was to believe, West Coast led by 47 points, had kicked nine goals with the Bulldogs still to register one, winning loud Bronx cheers from their own fans when they actually won the next centre clearance.But when normal transmission resumed, it happened in a rush. Ward kicked the Dogs' first of the game approaching the 25-minute mark of the second quarter, but by the time the half-time siren sounded, they'd kicked five of the last six and, 22 points down, at least had a sniff.The consensus, perhaps even in Eagle minds, was that the front-runner was about to be mown down.And so unfolded the script for the bulk of the third term. Mark LeCras did his best to steady the ship with a couple of goals, but as key men such as Matthew Boyd, quiet until now, Cooney and Jason Akermanis began to work their way into the game, it looked a bit inevitable.Ward's left-foot snap reduced the gap to a mere goal and, five minutes into the final term, Gilbee's shot on the run put the Bulldogs in front for the first time.Cooney, who'd jumped right on board with a big last quarter, appeared to add the exclamation mark when he slipped over, recovered his footing and the ball, and dobbed one from about 55 metres, to increase the gap to eight points.But now the Eagles, supposed to quietly slouch off centre stage as the big boys took over, stood tallest. Particularly Embley, superb all afternoon but at his finest in the final term with two huge goals, the first a enormous bomb from well outside 50 metres on the run, the second after a mark and from outside the boundary line.From the next centre bounce, the Bulldogs charged again, Will Minson's tap giving Akermanis the chance to unleash from outside 50 and put the home side and hot favourite in front one last time.But the Dogs didn't really deserve to get out of jail. And they didn't. LeCras steered home the winner barely a minute later and the Eagles hung on for dear life in a desperate final two minutes, the siren celebrated in only slightly less emotional fashion than that grand final win three years ago.Perhaps those tanking accusations had helped the Eagles get up for last week.Perhaps that embarrassing 19-game losing streak on the road did the trick yesterday. But whatever it was, for a second weekend in a row, it most clearly worked.FAST FOOTYWEST COAST3.2 10.3 13.3 16.6 (102)WESTERN BULLDOGS0.8 5.11 10.16 13.19 (97)GOALSWest Coast: Embley 4, Kennedy 4, LeCras 3, Ebert, McKinley, Wirrpanda, Lynch, Houlihan.Western Bulldogs: Ward 2, Akermanis 2, Hill 2, Gilbee 2, Cooney, Johnson, Lake, Cross, Griffen.BESTWest Coast: Embley, Kennedy, Hurn, LeCras, Rosa, Glass, Wirrpanda.Western Bulldogs: Boyd, Cooney, Lake, Akermanis, Griffen, Johnson.UMPIRESWenn, Kamolins, Hay.CROWD22,417 at Etihad Stadium.MAIN MENAndrew Embley was right back to his best form of the Eagles' last premiership year, bobbing up everywhere with 32 touches, four critical goals and a steadying hand just when required. Josh Kennedy was a threat all day at centre half-forward, and with four goals, gave Bulldog defender Tom Williams a torrid time.TURNING POINTWhile it already had a narrow lead, West Coast's explosive start to the second term ensured it truly dominated not only play, but the scoreboard as well, the first six goals of the quarter allowing it to forge a 47-point lead which set up a drought-breaking win on the road.THE UPSHOTThe Western Bulldogs' top-four spot is well and truly under threat, with its final three games against the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba, Geelong and Collingwood. The Bulldogs picked a bad time for a form slump. The Eagles, having put the tanking accusations to rest, can finish off the year well with two more winnable home games against North Melbourne and Richmond.ROHAN CONNOLLYTHE REACTIONRodney Eade (Western Bulldogs): "We made that many mistakes and when you miss that many goals, and you don't work hard enough for long enough, you get what you deserve in footy."John Worsfold (West Coast): "It's just another step in where we're going. I'm very proud of the way the players have responded in the last couple of weeks. The talent is there and it's developing rapidly."
© 2009 The Sunday Age
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