DICKFOS KICKS 7 AS PIES WIN COMFORTABLY

Full forward Alex Dickfos kicked 7 goals to lead the Western Magpies to a comprehensive 59 point victory over Sandgate at Chelmer on Saturday. It was the Pies fifth straight victory for the year. The victory sees the Pies move to third place on the ladder on percentage from Wilston Grange 

The Pies blew the game apart with a dominant third quarter after a tight and scrappy first half after leading by only 5 points at halftime.

The Pies took control in the second half to boot 8 goals to 2 in the third quarter and a further  5 goals to 2 in the last quarter to have a 13 goal to 4 goal second half.

The first half was a tough but scrappy affair with Sandgate's midfield playing behind the ball and bottling up the Magpies forward half. The Pies found it hard to hit targets amid the congestion but dominated the inside 50s in the first half without adding scoreboard pressure.

A five minute 3 goal burst at the start of the third quarter saw the Pies break the game open and further dominance in the third term had the Pies with a comfortable 40 point buffer at the last break.

Drew Mitchell initiated the third quarter onslaught with several clearances in his best game this year and with Luke Scott and Tom Michael dangerous across half forward and big full forward Alex Dickfos in great touch in front of goal the Magpies asserted their dominance on the scoreboard. 

16 year old small forward Riley Easton in his first game was a busy  player with constant harassment of the Hawks defenders and this resulted in a number of  turnovers and a goal for himself and setting up several other scoring opportunities.

Dickfos finished with 7 goals with long accurate kicking and Michael added 3.

Drew Mitchell and the consistent Ben Jaenke-Cain were constant sources of drive for the home team and thrived on the ruck dominance of Dom Beer and Hayden Thick.

With Thick shouldering more ruck responsibility Beer has actually improved his ruck work when in the middle and they make a formidable ruck combination.

CHB Doug Lawrence  and half back Matt Davis continued their consistent good form to stifle many Hawk attacks. Luke Mitchell mopped up well in defence and Luke Scott bobbed up everywhere and his silky skills were a highlight of the match.

Tom Ielasi also continued his consistent form with a typical workmanlike performance around the ground. 

The Pies had two forced changes to the selected side with Brady Allen and Jak Williams both withdrawing due to illness and Bryce Crossley and Jae Humphrey coming back into the side.

Ankle injuries to Richard Wenham, Sam Copland and Matt Thompson soured the win with Thompson likely to miss several matches--Copland and Wenham returned to the fray and both should recover for next week.

The Pies travel up the road to take on UQ at St Lucia next Saturday and will be well aware the Red Lions upset them last year and will be on guard to prevent a repeat loss. UQ were competitive against undefeated Labrador on Sunday so the Pies need to be wary of an ambush.

Coach Glenn Humphrey's  thoughts-- “I wasn’t happy with our first half at all, I thought we allowed them to dictate how the game was being played.

“The second half we went back to what we know works. We open sides up with our spread and run and carry, and winning contested football.

“Riley is a good kid, and he is only going to get better from here on after his first run, so look out for him in the future.”

Western Magpies 2.3 - 15 | 4.5 - 29 | 12.6 - 78 | 17.9 - 111

defeated

Sandgate Hawks 0.2. - 2 | 3.6 - 24 | 5.8 - 38 | 7.10 - 52

Goals: A.Dickfos 7, T.Michael 3, L.Scott 2, M.Aneet, R.Easton, D.Mitchell, H.Thick, S.Copland 1

Best: D.Mitchell, M.Davis, R.Easton, B.Jaenke-Cain, L.Scott, D.Lawrence