Good Signs In Tough Conditions As Swans Battle Eagles In Scratch Match

The Swan Districts have fallen to the West Coast Eagles (4.4) 28 to (10.4) 64 in a WAFL scratch match at Mineral Resources Park on Wednesday night.

In tough, wet conditions, the Swans intent was obvious from the first bounce, tackling hard and attacking the ball at every opportunity.

The backline held strong as West Coast spent much of the first quarter locking the ball in their half of the ground.

As the quarter went on, the Swans composed themselves with Jak Watson and Sam Fisher taking control in the midfield, kicking back to lead by a point at the first break.

Slippery conditions proved difficult in the second, as players found it difficult to hold a mark and score early in the quarter.

Enter Tony Notte…

With the ball soaring high into the Swans forward 50, Notte rose above the pack, taking a strong overhead mark with a wet ball. As the rain continued to fall, he went back on the angle and put it straight through the middle as the Swans began to dominate possession.

As the rain dried up, West Coast found there run, piling on three quick goals in succession, taking a 25-21 point lead into half time.

The Eagles continued their run into the third term, holding the visitors goalless, as a number of the Swans experienced players were rested on the bench.

As the game slipped away on the scoreboard in the fourth, the Swans continued to be hard at the ball and work for each other.

Despite the loss, Coach Adam Pickering said there was a lot to like about tonight’s game.

‘We played a heap of kids tonight’ he said. ‘Their intent on the ball and the opposition was really really good.

‘They were trying to implement a lot of the stuff we’ve been practising over the Summer.

‘It’s probably just refining those skills under game pressure is where we are going to really have to grow from here’.