Round 7 – West Coast Eagles V Narrm

Liam Chambers

Narrm off to a flying start.

The Eagles may have only one victory to their name this season but after last week’s disappointment, Narrm wouldn’t be taking anything for granted. Alyssa Bannan kicked the opening goal for the Dees with a running kick from 15m after receiving a hand pass from Casey Sherriff.

A tactical error in defence gifted Kellie Gibson a 50m penalty and she converted her 20m set shot for West Coast’s opener. The home crowd would have been happy with their teams’ performance at that stage, considering they had only one inside 50 but were also only trailing by one point.

It didn’t take Narrm long to strike back though. After winning the bounce, the ball was straight inside 50, where Bannan went from nought to sixty in a flash, collecting the bouncing sherrin and hammering home her second. Bannan had back to back goals within a minute after being taken down 30m from home. Her set shot was perfect, and she claimed her hat trick.

With a minute remaining, Aimee Mackin scored the Dees’ fourth after a stoppage, with a grab and snap at goal.

The Eagles keep the visitors from adding to their goal tally.

After Narrm’s complete dominance in the first term, West Coast upped the pressure in the second; tackling well and preventing the Dees from getting into scoring positions. There were a couple of opportunities; Georgia Campbell had a set shot from the pocket that resulted in a minor score, but overall Narrm’s chances were few and far between.

Then shockingly, Courtney Rowley marked inside 50 and kicked the 30m set shot.

It was a disappointing second quarter for the Dees. After all their attacking football in the term, they only had another two points to show for it at half time.

Narrm gets back on track.

Having been held goalless for the entire previous quarter, Narrm needed a confidence building early goal after the main break.

It came in the first minute when last week’s goal hero Eden Zanker marked a Bannan kick, then slotted the 20m set shot.

After the goal, Narrm was all over West Coast, but the hosts fought hard, restricting their rivals to three minor scores before Alyssa Bannan was able to pluck the ball out of the air and speed towards goal, kicking her fourth from 15m out.

The Dees seventh goal was beautifully set up by the Mackin sisters with Blaithin evading the tackle and passing to Aimee, whose acrobatic centering kick from the boundary was marked by Casey Sherriff on the edge of the square. Aimee Mackin was also involved in the next major when her superb kick from the pocket landed the ball directly in front of goal where Kate Hore controlled, collected and chipped it through the uprights.

The Dees wrap it up.

With their reputation as strong finishers, Narrm was in the drivers’ seat at the start of the final quarter. The visitors quickly added to their forty six point lead when Kate Hore kicked her second from a 20m set shot.

Eden Zanker also kicked her second goal, a few minutes later, to give the Dees an insurmountable fifty nine point lead, with just under twelve minutes remaining on the clock.

Alyssa Bannan was playing a blinder, slotting her fifth after marking a nicely placed centring kick from Lily Mitten, then converting the 15m set shot.

After that, Narrm basically set up camp in their forward 50. The overall score could have been much higher but West Coast’s defence fought hard to hold the Dees to a series of minor scores.

In the end, it was a comprehensive seventy point win for the reigning champions, and it sets them up nicely for their clash with second placed North Melbourne in Round 8.

Go the Mighty Dees!!!