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Experiencing probably the hottest match day all year - the round 11 clash between these two sides was even hotter on the field. The Eagles showed from the start that they were playing with intent. The intensity at the ball shown by both sides was tremendous and certainly not for the faint hearted. It was this attack on the ball which started the Blues awful run of events which saw them make the task at hand so much more difficult. Second-gamer Irishman Stephen "Irish" Rowney who had played been playing an explosive game was yellow carded for a dangerous high tackle. When told he was yellow-carded and had to sit out the remainder of the quarter the fiery kid responded with his displeasure at the decision to the umpire in not so subtle words. The result, a red-card. The Blues was to play with a 17 man side for the remainder of the game. Disapointingly for the Blues and Irish, he had been playing a superb game - with his electrifying speed and ability to take the ball at speed was causing some headaches for the Eagles midfield. Luckily for them - Irish's temperament got the better of him in the hot conditions. He was suspended for 1 match - after having the penalty reduced by pleading guilty. And just when the Blues thought it could not get any worse, Chris "Lefty" Liefting was carried off the field not long after - after re-spraining his ankle to sit out the remainder of the match next to Irish. Meanwhile the Eagles had run rampant and scored 4 goals while keeping the Blues scoreless. Had the Eagles been able to kick straight the scoreboard damage for the Blues could have been much worse as the Eagles kicked 5 behinds. Eagles up 29-0 at the end of the first.

The second quarter provided no relief for the Blues as the Eagles continued to dominate as they did in the first. However the Blues defense played magnificently in stemming the flow - an managed to hold the Eagles to only two goals and pressuring them into kicking another 5 behinds. Again accuracy in front of goal is turning out to be perhaps the Eagles only weakness and will be something they will be sure to address as they enter the finals. Bruce Parker who has found a rich vein of form in his last few games continued to lead from the front. While Danny "D-Train" Zimmerman and Kien La also provided plenty of run from the Blues defense. Daniel "Junior" Anderson who had been battling hard all day came off the ground late in the second after copping a knock to his calf and was unable to take anymore part in the match. Jason Cain played a tremendous game in his tagging role on the Eagles ever-dangerous Troy Marsh - nullifying Marsh's impact on the match. However the Eagles other stars ran with far too much freedom and seemed to be finding space everywhere they went. With the Blues short-handed and struggling to find winners on the field, were again kept scoreless as the two sides went into the long break with the Eagles up 46-0.

The second half did not start off any better for the Central Blues - as the Eagles sent in 5 more goals in the 3rd quarter - although the Blues forward Stu "Disco" Pearson was able to find some space for a mark and conversion late in the third quarter to finally get the Blues off the mark for their first score of the day. Disco forced himself into the Blues seniors squad after scoring 5 goals in a Divison 2 match the previous week and it is to his credit that he was able to bring in that form into this match. Jason Cain copped a knock and managed to play out the quarter - however was forced to stay off in the final quarter due to injury. With Cain off the Eagles Troy Marsh found some freedom around the ground and was able to inflict some serious carnage when the ball was in his hands.

With a depleted interchange and also playing one man down for nearly the entierty of the match the Blues were able to continue battling through the massacre and Disco once again found himself on the end of a great sequence of play to turn around and score his second for the day. Jaye Macumber was also able to reward his hardworking midfield outfit scoring the Blues 3rd for the day. However despite the Blues managing to find themselves with some shots on goal - it is not to say the Eegles stopped working. As they were still able to put through 4 more goals to close out a game which saw them dominate the Blues from the start. 

The Blues will need to go away after this loss and find out what went wrong and what could have been done about it. Discipline would be one of the Blues starting points. It's simply not acceptable to argue with umpires. And being forced to play one man short is certainly a harsh penalty - but certainly a fair one. The umpires have warned all year they will not accept back chat as has the Blues coaching group. It certainly is not like the Blues to argue with umpires - and hopefully this will be stamped out sooner rather than later. This weekend against the Swans - there should not be a need for an inspiring speech from the coach or captain. The players should all be aware - the club has lost three games in a row. All of them against finals-bound opponents. And this most recent loss to the Eagles by a whopping 91 points should be at the forefront of the players minds when they step onto the field against a Swans side who has won 2 straight (3 for the season). Hopefully the Blues can go some ways towards regaining some respect from the competition.