Eagles on high after thumping Geelong

WEST Coast eventually triumphed over its greatest enemy – itself – at Domain Stadium last night as the Eagles overcame a goalkicking horror show to comprehensively defeat Geelong.

While Tom Hawkins, who finished with three goals, relished his match-up with Will Schofield and looked dangerous every time the ball came in his direction, an overwhelmed Cats midfield simply could not provide the big forward the supply he required.

Geelong was on the wrong end of a 61-34 inside-50 count after being monstered in the contested ball fight, and even the Eagles’ terrible kicking for goal could only keep this alive as a contest for so long.

The Cats emerged for the third term knowing they had already used up most of their nine lives, trailing by just nine points despite conceding a whopping 21 scoring shots to seven in the first half.

What Geelong did not need was adversity in the form of injury and it arrived as a double blow with the losses of ruck options Rhys Stanley and Mitch Clark.

With Nic Naitanui already looming large after a dominant first half, the Cats were forced to substitute Stanley out of the game with injury and half-time and then lost Clark (calf) in the third term.

Naitanui went on to cap his best game of the season with a towering mark of the year contender in the last quarter, finishing it with his second goal.

Josh Hill finally ended the rot for the Eagles, ending a run of nine behinds with his first goal and as he got his second midway through the third term the Eagles had registered 5.20 on a perfect day for footy.

The teams went goal for goal in the third quarter and with the Eagles finding their kicking boots the 16.24 (120) to 10.4 (64) result put the outcome beyond doubt.