Roos Sneak Past Eagles

North Melbourne have run out six point winners in a hard fought contest against West Coast at Gold Coast Stadium tonight.

The Kangaroos were victorious 13.11 (89) to 12.11 (83), to cement themselves in the top eight whilst consigning the Eagles to seven straight losses.

The match was in the balance for much of the final term, and the reasonable crowd of 6,354 fans would’ve enjoyed the struggle, but with six minutes to go Kangaroos small forward Matt Campbell kicked what turned out to be the match-winning goal.

West Coast tried to reply in the dying minutes but they couldn’t find the breakthrough in a game which seesawed all night on what was a stormy evening.

The Eagles began the match the livelier, with Brent Staker kicking the opening goal. North Melbourne strangely started the match with key senior players Shannon Grant, Adam Simpson and Nathan Thompson on the bench but when they came on the field they made an impact as the Kangaroos kicked the next four goals of the opening term.

West Coast though, were able to get the margin back to within five points by quarter time with a highlight being debutant Ryan Davis’ first kick in the AFL being a goal.

The Eagles impressed in the second term when they scored five goals to two as they opened up a 15-point half-time lead. West Coast were opportunistic in the second quarter capitalising on Kangaroos’ turnovers with Tyson Stenglein, Josh Kennedy, Quinten Lynch and David Wirrpanda all snapping goals to give the side hope of ending their awful losing streak.

North Melbourne though slowly whittled away the deficit in the third term. Goals to Corey Jones, Thompson and David Hale pulled the margin back before North went ahead with two minutes left in the quarter with Adam Simpson kicking a late major.

The final term was an immense struggle with both sides having chances to win the match. A running Daniel Wells’ goal seemed to have put North home but impressive Eagle Kennedy replied to make the margin 4 points and not long later scores were level at 82 all when Ben McKinley kicked a long goal from a needless 50 metre penalty.

Kangaroos’ ruckman David Hale put his side ahead with a behind from the boundary late in the match before Campbell’s goal made the margin two kicks. The Eagles had a late chance when Andrew Embley’s long shot went close, but it was rushed through for a behind and two minutes later the siren sounded to end the thrilling encounter.

For the winners, Hale kicked three goals while captain Simpson won 26 disposals as the Kangaroos moved to fifth on the ladder. West Coast meanwhile are just one loss away from their worst run of results in the club’s history and can pretty much kiss away any hopes of making the finals in 2008. The Eagles can take some heart at the performances of youngsters Chris Masten and Kennedy who impressed.

Next week, North face a big test when they play the undefeated Bulldogs at Telstra Dome while West Coast return to Subiaco for a difficult assignment against fourth-placed Adelaide.