Saints clip Eagles’ wings

Saints have become a surprise finals contender after pulling off a big upset over the Looma Eagles last Saturday.

The Saints bounced back from their round 11 loss and have put themselves in line with the Eagles, Broome Bulls and Derby Tigers who all share five wins each as the season approaches its home straight.

It seemed Eagles would be the favourites to take out the match during the opening term, with Samuel Buck, Dylan Lennard and Edward McGinty booting four majors between them to give their side the early lead.

Although the Saints put the pressure on early, they only managed goals from Angus Boult-Lyne and Leigh Hislop, plus a couple of behinds, to trail by 10 points at quarter-time. The second quarter was where the Saints kicked the match into a new gear as they staged an early comeback.

In a closely contested term, Saints pulled off a five-goal haul via Boult-Lyne, Hislop, Scott McPhee, Michael Pigram and Lachlan Tracy to take the lead 7.5 (47) to 6.3 (39) at half time.

After the main break, Saints began to distance themselves from the Eagles, with Bruce Greatwich and Tracy booting majors while their defensive players kept the Eagles to just two behinds for the term.

The Eagles were beginning to run out of steam as they trailed by 20 points at the final change.

In the final quarter the Eagles attempted to stage a late comeback but to no avail.

As Ezekiel Green, Lennard and McGinty added goals to the Eagles’ tally, it was too little too late to stop the Saints.

Saints held on to their lead with Wayne Edgar, Hislop, Giovanni Hunter and McPhee kicking goals to take the victory 13.8 (86) to 10.9 (69).

Standout players for the Saints included Edgar, McPhee, Greatwich, Basil Sibosado and Jack Reagan, while Remahli Skeen, Kizzam Skeen, McGinty, Lennard and Keanu Skinner were Looma’s best.

The Saints will look to make it two wins in a row when they take on Cable Beach Greenbacks while the Eagles will go up against Towns.