The Min/Man Eagles sent the North Clare Roosters crashing from third to fifth on the Premiership ladder after defeating them by 45 points at Manoora on Saturday.
Min/Man kicked to the southern end in the first term with the aid of a slight breeze but it was North that got the scoreboard ticking over with the opening major at the 7-minute mark.
Grant Jaeschke got hold of the footy on the entrance wing, found the leading Sam Pink with a wonderful pass that travelled 45 metres and he converted from 40 metres out directly in front.
The Eagles had their chances to nail majors during the middle stages of the quarter but they had trouble penetrating the large opening and with 3 minutes gone in the time-on period the Roosters made them pay.
Following a boundary throw-in deep in the scoreboard pocket John Nicholas was given a free kick for hanging on without the footy, he sized up the options and split the centre with a terrific kick from the tightest of angles.
The first quarter was played at a frenetic pace causing a few skill errors but the Roosters had made the most of their opportunities to lead by 8 points at the first huddle.
QUARTER TIME: NORTH 2.0 (12), MIN/MAN 0.4 (4)
The blistering pace of the game continued at the start of the second term with the Eagles on the attack but once again they had difficulty nailing majors until they finally broke through at the 14-minute mark.
Steve Baraglia received a 50-metre penalty on the half-forward-flank taking him to the goal-square and he popped through the locals first six-pointer for the game.
The Roosters replied with Simon Jaeschke firing a sweeping handball to Richard Moulds in the scoreboard back-pocket, Moulds passed the footy to Damien Ellis who kicked towards Matt Pawley who gathered and handballed to Tom Huppatz.
Huppatz centred the ball to Andrew Waters who marked, played on and delivered to Pink on the lead and he nailed his second goal for the half from 30 metres out.
Min/Man hit back four minutes into the time-on period with Ben Kerslake intelligently tapping the footy forward to Shane Ross who gathered and snapped a good goal from 30 metres out to give them a bit of momentum and a 2-point lead at the long break.
HALF TIME: MIN/MAN 2.8 (20), NORTH 3.0 (18)
The Eagles came out firing at the start of the second half with Aaron Bevis delivering an excellent pass to Daniel Fogden and he slotted through his first major for the game from 35 metres out with 2 minutes on the clock.
Three minutes later Lockie Sandow got on the end of a handball from Fogden and snapped a great goal from 30 metres out deep in the entrance pocket.
At the 8-minute mark North hit back with Michael Harrold getting hold of the footy at centre-half-back and handballing to Waters who hit the fast leading Will Smith with a good pass.
Smith played on, chipped the footy to Tim Siv who turned and found Brendan Pudney who kicked to the hotspot, Andrew Amey held onto a strong grab and converted from 15 metres out.
Two minutes later the Roosters went forward again with Nicholas gathering the footy and throwing it on the boot only to see it sail through the middle with a reverse screwy from the down-hill pocket.
Min/Man counterpunched halfway through the term through Baraglia after he received a free for a poor tackle and made no mistake from 25 metres out.
Late in the quarter Brad Ross was given a free kick and sent the footy over the goal-umpires hat from 30 metres out to give the locals a 3-goal advantage at the final break.
THREE QUARTER TIME: MIN/MAN 6.13 (49), NORTH 5.1 (31)
The Eagles stretched the advantage out to 4 goals early in the final term with Fogden passing the footy to Kerslake who speared the large opening from 35 metres out with 2 minutes gone.
Three minutes later the Roosters replied when Nicholas got hold of a loose footy in the centre, handballed to Huppatz who delivered to Pink and he gave it to Siv who split the centre with a good snap around his body from 30 metres out.
At the 9-minute mark North closed the gap a bit further with Amey gathering the footy and having a bounce before finding Pink on the lead.
Pink handballed to Waters who delivered the footy to Tyson Pawley and he converted from 25 metres out.
Min/Man responded with 12 minutes on the clock through Bevis after the pocket-dynamo swooped on a loose ball and snapped successfully from 20 metres out. A minute later Michael Prince delivered a good pass to Ashley Winders and he made no mistake from 25 metres out.
Approaching the time-on period Kerslake took his regulation strong pack mark, booted his second major from 35 metres out and one minute into time-on Brad Bryksy took a strong mark after receiving a pass from Fogden and converted from 30 metres out.
The Eagles won the centre clearance at the re-start with Brad Ross driving the footy deep into attack, Baraglia got on the end of it and from 20 metres out nailed his third major for the afternoon.
The Roosters did get one back late in the game through Pink after the goal-sneak roved the footy cleverly in the canteen pocket and snapped his third goal for the game but the Eagles had the final say.
Baraglia won the centre clearance with a long bomb into the danger zone, Fogden got hold of the footy and booted his second major for the day from 22 metres out.The Eagles had taken control of the game in the second half having 19 scoring to 6, fortunately for the Roosters they didn’t have their kicking boots on or the margin would’ve been a lot greater than 45 points at the final siren.
FINAL SCORE: MIN/MAN 13.16 (94) d NORTH CLARE 8.1 (49)
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