By AKSHAY KAPADIA
IN WHAT was billed as EDFL Match of the Day, Tullamarine went up to Craigieburn in a top-of-the-table clash.
It looked to be a good game on paper.
Craigieburn were able to kick the first goal of the game through Jeremy Page early in the game.
Tullamarine hit back with a goal of their own to level it back up.
From there, Craigieburn took control of the game as they went on to kick the next four goals.
They proved to be powerful from the arc as they all came with long kicks into the goal square or beyond. At the end of the quarter the Eagles held a two-goal lead over the Demons.
Craigieburn was able to get off to a better start in the second quarter.
Goals to Cameron Cloke, Christian McErlain and Brett Gordon helped the Eagles push ahead to a sizable lead.
And, midway through the quarter Tullamarine looked to be mounting a comeback with three goals in the space of a minute, this being done through centre clearances and long kicks into the forward 50.
This was snubbed out quickly by the Eagles as they hit back with two goals before the siren to end the first half.
McErlain kicked his second in the opening minute of the second half but the Demons were able to reply after that.
For the rest of the quarter, however, it was all Craigieburn as they kicked all of the remaining four goals for the quarter to take their lead out to 10 goals straight by the final break.
The game wasn’t going as planned for the Demons and it was obvious that the game was not going to end in a close finish as previously expected.
For the last quarter, the Eagles pulled the lead out even further, kicking another six goals to one.
At the end of the day, the Eagles just proved too strong for the Demons. Their run and aggression was too overwhelming as the Demons kept trailing behind.
The loss has dropped Tullamarine to fourth on the ladder as Craigieburn stay one game ahead of the rest with a considerable percentage advantage.
Next week, the Craigieburn travel to the Northern Saints, while Tullamarine will host Oak Park at Leo Dineen Reserve.
Craigieburn | 23.16-154
Goal Kickers: C. Cloke 5, J. Young 3, S. Laffan 2, C. Langborne 2, C. McErlain 2, D. Courouzou 2, B. Gordon, J. Davies, N. Perrone, J. Cloke, R. Bongetti, J. Page, A. Loizou
Best Players: A. Kite, C. Cloke, J. Page, R. Bongetti, D. Courouzou, C. McErlain
Tullamarine | 9.7-61
Goal Kickers: C. Laurie 3, C. Pereira-Oliva 2, J. Flanigan, J. Sims, D. Devine, J. Port
Best Players: C. Steele, D. Brockway, W. Geyer, S. Doyle, D. Devine, R. Laurie
