EAGLES COACH: WE CAN MATCH THEM

NEWTOWN & Chilwell coach Damien McMahon doesn’t believe his side is far away from being able to challenge St Joseph’s, despite Saturday’s qualifying final loss.

If the two sides do face each other again in the finals, the Eagles may be without star captain Matt McMahon after he appeared to aggravate a long- standing achilles tendon issue during the second quarter.

That will put the onus on the club’s other players to stand up and fill the void, some of whom will have a point to prove after being slightly off their best on Saturday.

“We’re not that far away at all,” coach McMahon said post- match.

“At the 20- minute mark of the last, we’re 10 points down and Sam Nichols had the ball inside 50 and unfortunately turned it over.

“We catch that ball and turn it into four points, who knows what happens?

“They’re a very seasoned team and we’re the opposite of that.

“We’ll be better for the experience. We also had a few players play short of what they’re capable of, so we get some more out of them I think we’re still well within the realms of competing with St Joseph’s.”

After kicking the first two goals of the game thanks to impressive makeshift ruckman Will Robinson ( two goals for the game) and Jy Lane, Newtown & Chilwell conceded seven goals to three across the second and third quarters in the midst of some St Joseph’s dominance.

The Eagles mounted a brave late challenge, kicking three consecutive goals to narrow the margin to within two kicks but “didn’t play our best for long enough”, according to their coach.

“Brayden Helyar and Curtis McCarthy went head to head, I thought Will Robinson battled his arse off in the ruck and kicked two goals and Jacob Sharp was electric at times,” McMahon said.