By Lachlan Onions
Keith 18.22 (130) d Penola 6.1 (37)
The Keith Crows’ strong season continued with an emphatic win over Penola in Round 12 of Kowree Naracoorte Tatiara football.
In a game where the Eagles were always underdogs, they put up a solid fight in the first quarter and only trailed by 12 points at quarter time.
However, in the second quarter, the Crows proved why they are one of the top teams in the competition and extended the lead out to 44 at the main break.
Penola put up a fight early in the second half with two goals to reduce the margin, but Keith showed its class as it kicked six majors, which extended the lead to 68 points at the final change.
“We played really well in the first quarter, except for the last three or four minutes, as was the same in the second quarter,” Penola coach Brad Maney said.
“At the start of the third, we kicked two in a row but we just let ourselves down late in the quarters.”
The one-way traffic resumed in the final quarter as the Crows cruised to a 93-point victory and made it eight wins from 12 games.
“Keith are flying at the moment, they are a very classy side,” Maney said.
“We had some bad luck before the game, we lost Luke Walker before the game and Brad Bryant went down unwell at the start of the game so we were fairly undermanned,”
“Our ball movement was the best it has been in probably a month, and there were definitely periods where we dictated the state of play.
“We just weren’t able to score as easily as Keith were but I thought our effort was still there
Zac Deane marked his return to the side with a strong performance at centre-half forward and kicked three goals for the game.
Deane has been a pivotal player for the Eagles this season and has kicked 13 goals for the season and has regularly used his size to contribute further down the field as well.
Brad Merrett marked his return to the side with a goal and made his presence felt in the backline in what was an impressive game all-round.
Dale Bunnik put in an impressive performance in the ruck and was named best on ground for Penola.
