Eagles march into Grand Final

West Coast   93 defeated Adelaide   77

West Coast have held off a surging last quarter effort by Adelaide and force themselves into the Grand Final next week against Sydney following a 16-point victory at Subiaco Oval this afternoon.

The Eagles held a seemingly match-winning 32-point lead at three quarter time, only for the Crows to fight back and snag the deficit to 10 points with only minutes remaining. However, West Coast held off in the end and prevail with a gutsy 14.9 (93) to 11.11 (77) victory.

The win comes as bittersweet revenge for West Coast, who were knocked off first place in the final round by Adelaide.

As has been all year, conversion inside 50 proved to be a killer for Adelaide. The visitors entered their attacking fifty on 11 greater occasions than the Eagles, though, kicked three goals fewer.

Daniel Kerr and Chris Judd were the cornerstones in the win, both collecting plenty of possessions and providing a physical presence and explosive run from the midfield. The pair together collected 55 possessions, 10 hardball gets and 16 clearances.

Ashley Hansen and Daniel Chick both stepped up in the forward line without key forwards Phil Matera and Quinten Lynch, booting three goals apiece.

Dean Cox proved to be a rock both in the ruck and defensive line with 14 marks and 13 hit outs, while David Wirrpunda was the catalyst of the repelling run with 20 disposals.

In a gloomy finish to the season for the Crows, captain Mark Ricciuto toiled hard all day in an attempt to bring his team home, gathering 22 touches and five clearances, while Tyson Edwards and Simon Goodwin provided run forward and the added toughness to match Judd and Kerr for the Eagles.

Casting our eyes forward seven days, the MCG will play host to the second consecutive non-Victorian Grand Final, when the West Coast Eagles and the Sydney Swans slug it out for 2005 summer bragging rights.

In an anti-climax to the first bounce of the ball, Darren Gaspar, playing in his first game in 2005, made high contact with Ken McGregor before the umpire blew the start of the quarter, with McGregor kicking truly from 50.

Adelaide dominated the first 15 minutes of the quarter for little scoreboard result, with the Crows only posting two goals, while Michael Gardiner kicked the Eagles first from the goal-square.

Against a strong breeze, it was West Coast who held the upper hand in the second half of the term, with Daniel Chick booting their second - scores level at quarter time.

Trent Hentschel gave Adelaide the perfect start to the second term when he snapped majestically from 40 out, with the ball negating its way through a fierce wind and the goals.

Ashley Hansen responded for the home side, and it was turning into back-and-forth football when Brett Burton marked strongly and kicked accurately to give the Crows a seven point lead at the 10-minute mark.

However, turn on the Judd afterburners and away West Coast went, as they finished the quarter with three of the last four goals to lead by seven points at the main break.

The match was developing into a physical tussle, with both sides desperately seeking to break open and assert some dominance, however, neither side were able to.

Enter Ben Cousins, and the flood gates open. When the Eagles' captain marked strongly and booted his first for the afternoon, that led a spate of four goals in nine minutes by West Coast, as they broke the lead out to 33 points.

Adelaide were still attaining their fair share of forward fifty chances, but a depleted and crushed forward structure was detrimental to their scoring, with only McGregor scoring a major in the third term as West Coast held a match-winning 32-point three quarter time advantage.

If the Crows had any chance at winning, an Adam Hunter goal at the 10-minute mark of the final quarter seemingly inserted the first hot dagger, after Adelaide had booted three straight behinds.

However, the visitors were starting to convert their chances going forward, and in 10 minutes, had reduced a 34-point deficit to only nine points in red time.

Though, goals to Hansen and Chick - both their third - sealed the match and while Adelaide's season comes to an end, the Eagles live to fight another day.

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