Woodville had the Eagles measure throughout the regular season, claiming wins in round 8 and 17 by a combined 22 points. However their match in the opening week of finals turned that margin 4 points in Forestville’s favour with a dominating 26 point victory. With the Eagles falling to West Adelaide by 3 points and Woodville getting by Centrals in an 11 point win, the two teams were set to clash again in a do or die preliminary final.

Steve Pilkington put the first points on the board for the Warriors before the Eagles went on a dangerous 17-4 point run. Jake Rios was in sizzling form early, draining 3 from downtown in those opening 5 minutes, he set the pace and the team followed. Big man Neil Mottram did the rest of the damage, the Forestville stadium roared up as he stuffed a dunk on a 2 on 1 play.

The Warriors called a timeout but it did nothing to stem the flow of Eagles points as the team put up an 80 per cent field goal rate, including 5 from 6 three pointers, while the Warriors languished at 21 percent.

Woodville sharpshooters Darren Ng, Aaron Wyatt and Adam Miller failed to land a basket between them as Forestville ploughed through the remaining 5 minutes to hold a 23 point buffer at the first break. Forestville’s Adam Gibson was instrumental in maintaining the pressure in the latter half of the term, his 10 minutes earning him 9 points at maximum efficiency and 4 assists.

In the absence of a similarly dominating quarter for Woodville, it seemed likely they would struggle to recover from the first. They certainly recovered in a shooting sense in the second term, with 9 scoring contributors, they were getting points on the board. But with such a large deficit the task was in stemming the flow of points for the Eagles. It wasn’t to be as the Warriors won the quarter, but only by 3 points. Rios continued to fire for the Eagles and was joined by Trent Fildes and Brad Gerlach, who each added 6 for the period.

After the main break the Eagles began to dominate the boards at both ends, their shooting was down in their lowest scoring quarter but Mottram, Gibson and Adam Doyle put up enough points to stay ahead of a Warriors team that still couldn’t make a field goal. Luke Standbridge remained their biggest contributor with 6 points for the term, the majority of which came at the line.

If the game had been one sided up until now, the final quarter was a blowout finish as the Eagles piled on 30 points to Woodville’s 12 for a 42 point victory, launching them into a Grand Final appearance. Rios took a rest early in the last term and Doyle took over, shooting 3/3 from downtown and converting another three point play. He too subbed off with the game sealed, presumably to avoid any last minute hiccups.

Luke Stanbridge sat atop a short list of efficient Woodville scorers and held a team high 14 points at games end, the only double figure player to the Eagles five. Woodville certainly had their share of shots unlucky to keep coming out but just could not match the Eagles accuracy thanks to open looks and their big guys driving and gaining position in the key.

The eagles were superb on the night, ending a great season from the Warriors, they held a +19 rebound count, doubled their opponent on assists and shot 12 threes at 60 percent. Doyle was game high scorer with 22 points, he also had 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Fildes recorded a double-double, adding 11 rebounds and 4 assists to his 10 points. Mottram was one rebound shy with 9, 4 assists and 14 points, and Gibson was fantastic with 16 points, 9 assists and 4 rebounds.

Forestville will be looking to carry their shooting form as well as their domination of the boards into the Grand Final with West Adelaide this weekend. They will need to unsettle the Bearcats play to starve the 2013 Woollacott medallist Daniel Johnson of his regular haul of points.

Forestville Eagles 104 (Doyle 22, Rios 21, Gibson 16)

Defeated

Woodville Warriors 62 (Stanbridge 14)

Stats Webcast

By Lachlan Eggers