By RORY O’NEILL
THIS season-opener between two of last year's relegation-threatened clubs was played in superb conditions with a moderate breeze heading towards the eastern end of the ground.
West Coburg kicked with the wind in the first quarter.
They had plenty of scoring opportunities and should have been further in front.
At the quarter time break, the Eagles’ assistant coach, Jason Cockatoo, implored his players to increase the tackle count as they trailed 13-35.
The Burgers’ coach, former North Melbourne and Carlton player Digby Morrell, advised his players to stay calm and not overplay the ball.
In the second quarter, West Coburg increased their lead with strong marks up forward, in particular, via Danko Bzenic, who scored two majors.
Airport West were able to slot through two late goals but the Burgers scored a steadier on the siren to lead 10.8 (68) to 5.4 (34).
The third quarter was full of action. The Burgers’ Tom Baravi retaliated to a sling tackle, which ended with an ugly melee on the southern wing.
A highlight of the quarter was a spectacular mark taken by Eagle Tom Clough, who used his West Coburg opponent as a stepladder.
The Burgers piled on another six goals, including another two to Danko Bzenic, and a spectacular banana from the boundary by Tom Pryde.
At three-quarter time, West Coburg held an almost unassailable lead of 63 points.
In the final quarter, the Eagles improved their work rate and piled on eight goals.
This included three goals from Tyson Young and two from Alex Penaluna, with Penaluna finishing with six goals for the match.
This delighted a group of Eagles fans who were standing on the back of a mobile grandstand (a white Ute) - they cheered through every Airport West goal.
In contrast, West Coburg were able to manage only four majors and even had one player kick the football the wrong way.
The final quarter was such a shootout that the count-up clock stopped at 35 minutes with play was still going.
In the end, West Coburg ran out 36-point winners.
After the match, Morrell said the difference between the two teams was that West Coburg were able to run and spread and move the ball more efficiently in their forward half.
He said that his young team has a lot of work to do but he hopes his team will play finals this year.
Eagles captain-coach Damian Cupido, who previously played in the AFL for Brisbane and Essendon, felt his team was beaten at critical moments during the game.
He said that they needed to neutralise the ball at the stoppages and that they gave away metres way too easily.
He was also highly critical of his team’s tackling, labeling it as “abysmal”.
Cupido felt that the main positive of the game was his team’s spirited last quarter; stating “they could have waved the white flag and lost by 15 goals, but they finished the game off well”.
AIRPORT WEST | 15.13-103
Goal Kickers: A. Penaluna 6, T. Young 3, J. Formosa 2, S. Malual, D. Cupido, R. Tompkins, K. Bol
Best Players: D. Cross, B. Malual, R. Hackney, A. Penaluna, C. Rogers, T. Clough
WEST COBURG | 20.19-139
Goal Kickers: D. Bzenic 5, J. Gloury 3, R. Cleary 3, O. Abdallah 2, D. Kutrolli 2, L. Bowkett, T. Pryde, A. Fitaax, T. Baravi, O. Saad
Best Players: D. Bzenic, J. Drake, D. Kutrolli, M. Abdulwahed, A. Kelly
