The Eagles fell short at Norwood Oval on Saturday

By Jason Phelan at AFL.com.au & westcoasteagles.com.au

The West Coast Eagles’ two-game winning streak has come to an end, falling to Adelaide by 17 points at Norwood Oval on Saturday.

The Crows were strong on their home turf in the 7.6 (48) to 4.7 (31) victory, bouncing back from their shock loss to Richmond last round.

Adelaide led by a game-high 36 points when Madison Newman kicked the first goal of the final term, but the Eagles kept coming and kicked the last three goals before the home side settled to take the four points.

Georgie Cleaver fought bravely in defence for West Coast, but the Crows’ inside 50 dominance (43-23) was too great for the visitors to overcome. 

Eagles’ co-captain Charlie Thomas played her 50th AFLW game and was among her side’s best with 16 possessions, while young gun Ella Roberts managed a team-high 20 touches.

Ebony Marinoff was at her brilliant best for Adelaide with a game-high 30 disposals and seven clearances, with Newman also outstanding with 19 touches and two goals.

Little separated the teams heading into the clash that pitted the sixth-placed Eagles against the seventh-placed Crows, with both teams on five wins.

The Eagles went goalless in an opening term for the fourth time this season, while Adelaide had 10 of the first 11 inside 50s of the game and held a deserved 14-point lead at the first break through goals to Teah Charlton and Grace Kelly.

Adelaide’s lead stretched to 19 points when Danielle Ponter converted from close range, but a moment of brilliance from Bella Lewis led to West Coast’s opening goal that sparked a bright patch for the visitors.

Despite wresting away the momentum, West Coast couldn’t capitalise and trailed by 17 points at half-time after Newman goaled from a free kick directly in front.

Adelaide regained the upper hand in the third quarter, restricting West Coast to just one behind and stretching the lead to 30 points at three-quarter time thanks to goals to Eloise Jones and Brooke Boileau. 

Mikayla Western sparked a late rally halfway through the final term, followed by back-to-back majors from Charlotte Riggs and Emma Swanson, but the gap was too great to overcome.

The Eagles return to MRP for round 10 to take on Geelong, hoping to return to the winners’ list and keep their finals hopes alive.

ADELAIDE 2.3 4.3 6.4 7.6 (48)
WEST COAST 0.1 1.4 1.5 4.7 (31)

GOALS
Adelaide: Newman 2, Ponter, Boileau, Jones, G.Kelly, Charlton
West Coast: Lewis, Western, Riggs, Swanson

BEST 
Adelaide: Marinoff, Newman, Charlton, Hatchard, S.Allan, Goodwin
West Coast: Cleaver, Roberts, Swanson, Thomas, Lewis, Rentsch

INJURIES 
Adelaide: Nil
West Coast: Nil

Reports: Nil

Crowd: TBC at Norwood Oval