North Eagles claim South Australian Men's Title with blistering offensive performance as Jordan Cox shuts down Bombers
The North Eagles have capped an incredible fortnight for the joint venture outfit, upsetting Brighton in dominant fashion to claim the 2023 Lacrosse SA Men’s State League title.
Riding a 12-game win streak, the Brighton came into the Grand Final the hot favourites, however they would face an Eagles side brimming with belief after their thrilling sudden victory win over Glenelg a week earlier and that showed early when Nathan Twisk opened the scoring off the back of some slick ball movement. Both keepers Jordan Cox and Clint Barker were being tested early and the game was a grind until Jack Waller cashed in on a manup to extend the lead to 2. The Bombers got on the board a minute later of a delicious man up set which saw Jack Woodford get on the end of a great feed to cut the margin to 2-1 at which point the offences game to life with both sides trading goals to see the Eagles lead 3 – 2 at quarter time. The second quarter though saw the Eagles seize the momentum with Nathan Twisk piling on, scoring 2 more goals alongside Jesse Whinnen and Ryan Gaspari as the Eagles lead swelled to 7 – 2 at the half.
The Bombers needed a lift to get back into the game and it was Matt Fuss who provided the spark, scoring on a bomb from deep to make it 7 – 3. However, Garrette Briggs cancelled out the Bombers goal with a tough finish on the outside to push the margin back to 5. That lead was then pushed to 7 goals when Whinnen took all the air out of any possible Bomber comeback with a dagger in the dying seconds of the third quarter to make it 10 – 3 at the final change. Brighton had a mountain of work to do to get back into the game and it started well with 2 goals but a Gaspari goal calmed any Eagles nerves. Waller then blasted a goal from outside to extend the margin back to 7 with 10 minutes left. Brighton found 2 more goals to get the margin back to 13 – 8 but the clock was against them and with Brighton playing some desperate defence, Briggs took over the centre and the Eagles took full advantage with Twisk, Kenta Matsumura, 23, Breyden Simpson and Jac Harlay all getting on the board for the 17 – 8 final. Jordan Cox claimed the 2023 Presidents Medal as the best on field in a superb display in the cage for the Eagles.
The win is the first title for West Torrens since 1997 and for North Adelaide since 1960. Congratulations to the North Eagles!
Photo Credit – Eagles Lax Photos