Eagles to face Swans in grand final replay

West Coast 11.19 (85) def. Adelaide 11. 9 (75)

West Coast will again face Sydney in next Saturday’s grand final after beating Adelaide by 10 points at AAMI Stadium this afternoon.

The win sets up a tantalising replay of last season’s classic playoff and also this year’s qualifying final, where Sydney beat West Coast by a solitary point at Subiaco two weeks ago.

With the Eagles going into the final quarter eight points behind and having trailed the entire journey, they blew the game open with the first nine scoring shots of the final stanza.

First, Adam Hunter was found inside fifty by Andrew Embley and goaled to bring the margin to within a point.

Then Quinten Lynch took a strong mark and put the Eagles in front, before Embley took a grab in the goal square with a sensational leap to put the Eagles two goals to the good, and with four behinds following for the visitors they got the margin out to 16 points.

Matthew Clarke marked deep in attack and kicked truly for Adelaide, but Sam Butler seemingly sealed the Eagles’ grand final spot with a snapped effort before Rowan Jones missed from point blank to leave the Eagles 17 points out in front with five minutes to go.

But the game wasn’t over. Nathan Bock kicked his second for the Crows, Simon Goodwin missed a snap shot and then Bock managed to boot a miracle goal from the dead pocket against the wind to bring Adelaide within four points and give the game a grandstand finish.

But Tyson Stenglein was awarded a free kick from the centre bounce, the ball was worked to Ashley Hansen and he kicked a meaningless goal after the siren as his teammates celebrated around him and the despondent home crowd booed their disapproval.

Hunter booted four goals for the victors, while Embley was sensational all over the ground kicking two majors and 24 touches. Chris Judd had 29 possessions and was influential in the final term, and Hansen was a good target up forward with 11 marks and a goal.

For the Crows, Graham Johncock was good out of defence with his dash and his 24 disposals, while Bock led the Crows up forward with three goals with help from the high-flying Brett Burton who managed two.

It was an extremely tight and tough first term, with the combination of Adelaide’s good work stifling West Coast’s prime movers and a stiff breeze going the Crows’ way conspiring to keep the visitors goalless for the opening quarter.

Not until the five minute mark was a score garnered – a rushed behind to the Crows – and it was another four minutes until a goal was kicked: Bock marked inside forward fifty for the hosts and gave them a seven-point advantage.

With four minutes to go before quarter-time, Adelaide kicked two valuable goals when Scott Welsh snapped truly and from the resulting centre bounce Matthew Bode burst clear and found Brett Burton in the goal square.

Adelaide went into the first break ahead by 17 points, but West Coast finally got their first major through Daniel Kerr who snapped in the first few minutes of the second term.

Eagle defender Jaymie Graham made a huge blue deep in his own defence when he stumbled with the ball and didn’t get rid of it, allowing Bode to pin him, earn the free kick and slot a major.

Hunter replied for the visitors, but Bode kicked his second and then just before the major break Burton took a great mark while holding off his opponent and falling to the ground, with his goal lifting the margin out to 23 points, with a Daniel Chick behind reducing the gap to 22 at half-time.

With the Crows having extended their lead against the wind in he second term, it appeared they were in the box seat to claim their first grand final berth since their premiership of 1998.

But the Eagles came out a rejuvenated outfit in the second half, and threw down the gauntlet to Adelaide whose run stopped and ball use waned.

West Coast slammed on the first three goals of the third term through Hunter, Embley and Ben Cousins to reduce the gap to a point, before Tyson Edwards marked strongly inside forward fifty and goaled to steady the hosts.

Hunter’s mark and third goal again brought it back to a point, but Andrew McLeod won the ball at a ground level contest outside fifty before charging in and kicking a sensational goal to lift the crowd and the margin to eight points at the final change.

West Coast absolutely dominated the final term, turning their eight-point deficit into a 17-point lead with five minutes to go in the game.

Bock kicked two late goals for the hosts – including a pearler from the dead pocket to reduce the margin to four points with less than a minute to go – but West Coast won a free kick from the resulting centre bounce and Hansen marked inside fifty and kicked a goal after the siren to put an exclamation mark on his side’s 10-point preliminary final win.

•  Have a view on this story? Send us your feedback!