Port win at last: 128-104 against Eagles - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Port win at last: 128-104 against Eagles

By Tim Clarke 20/04/2008 07:50:15 PM Comments (0)

Port Adelaide have won their first game of the year - and consigned West Coast to their equal worst start in AFL history - with a 19.14 (128) to 16.8 (104) victory at a depressed Subiaco Oval.

An eight-goal second quarter helped the visitors break out to a 68-point lead in the last term - and despite an Eagles rally, Mark Williams' side could not lose an unlosable game two weeks in a row.

Instead, they added to West Coast's increasing woes, handing them a fourth defeat in a row and a 1-4 record to equal the stuttering starts of 1998 and 1996.

With Daniel Motlop and Brett Ebert leading the Port goalkickers with four each, Kane Cornes' 27 possessions compared to opponent Daniel Kerr's 13 adequately summed up the gulf between the teams for the majority of the afternoon.

And although young Eagles forward Ben McKinley again showed good signs with a five-goal haul, the huge hole left in the West Coast midfield by Ben Cousins and Chris Judd is getting bigger every week.

The afternoon actually started brightly for the home side, McKinley continuing his impressive start to an AFL career with a one-handed grab and goal within two minutes.

But after Motlop's immediate reply it was only horrible inaccuracy; Motlop, Salopek and Shaun Burgoyne all guilty of glaring misses.

After David Rodan continued the inaccurate trend early in the second quarter, the game was still alive - but as soon as the Power found their radar, all appeared lost for the declining Eagles.

Unable to win a meaningful contest, the West Coast backline crumbled - with five goals in seven minutes accurately reflecting Port's dominance.

Motlop's double dummy, Adam Thomson's second, Brendon Lade's first followed quickly by Shaun Burgoyne and Warren Tredrea took the Port lead from seven to 37 in the blink of an eye.

As the lead increased so did Eagles' frustration, with Brett Jones' spray at teammates speaking volumes, as did the silence that greeted Motlop's miracle fourth goal minutes into the third term.

With Port's lead past the 47 points that Brisbane overhauled last week, the Eagles also showed some spirit, with Matt Spangher, Chad Jones and Quinten Lynch kicking successive goals in the third term to bring back some bad memories.

Brett Ebert's first three goals of the last term appeared to have put the contest beyond doubt.

But with Kerr finally having an influence, seven successive Eagles majors including three from McKinley was encouraging, but ultimately too little too late.

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