The East Coast Eagles will be conducting their first Country Ball on May 22^nd. This is a lighter event than the Black Tie Ball of previous years, and we are asking all players, members and supporters to come along and enjoy a night of games, prizes and dress ups. No need for ball gowns and tuxedoes at this event, simply get dressed up in your best country gear and be in the running for one of the Best Dressed Awards. There will be extra games played on the night, so bring a bit of spare change and get involved.

You can pre-purchase tickets at a discounted rate from the online store, or by seeing Liz Duss this weekend at the canteen. Tickets will be available at the door at full price.

Check out the flyer for all the details.

The East Coast Eagles would like to congratulate Miriam Boe and Glenn Garner on the birth of their first son, Logan. While reports are sketchy at this stage, Garner was heard telling nurses "Yeah I'm really happy with Miriam's workrate today. She had a good birth plan going into the day and stuck through it till the end. We're really happy with that result and we'll move forward from here."

Logan (middle name TBA) was born at approximately 8am on monday morning weighing in at about 9 pounds. Both mother and son are doing well at Campbelltown Hospital.

Congratulations to the Eagles' newest family.

The Eagles went into this game with just nine of the 22 who took the Premiership on this same ground seven months earlier. Injuries had forced Glenn Garner to select a cosmopolitan team to take the field against a side who will play finals football this year. Western Suburbs would most certainly test the eight Eagle youngsters who are yet to experience their 21^st birthdays.

Anthony Stubbs was a late withdrawal and into the side came Carlton Scholarship holder Jake Pianta for his first Premier League game at age 17. Jake was certainly not overawed by the big league and won the plaudits of many. 16 year old Dominic Killworth continues to impress in his inaugural year with the Eagles having relocated from Tasmania, whilst 18 year old Daniel Spiteri is somewhat of a veteran now in his third season.

East Coast started superbly with a dream first quarter straight out of the box. Wests were arguably never going to recover from allowing this kind of start and played catch up football for the rest of the day. The 2009 Eagles’ Premiership backline is still reasonably intact with Ben Physick (pictured) allocated the task of keeping key Magpie full forward Matt Eurell quiet. After two successive hauls of eight goals, it was always going to be a big task, but Physick was well up to his minder duties with Eurell only managing two.

Rowan Bilkey was on fire having been given an almost free reign to roam across the defensive zone. His outstanding high marking and attacking football once again gave him Players’ Player honours after a similar performance the week before. Despite their best efforts in defence, at three quarter time the Eagles found themselves under all sorts of pressure with Wests drawing to within 15 points after a strong third term.

The perfect weather conditions gave neither side an advantage as the ball was bounced to start the final shoot out. The winner of this match would be the side who could run the game out the best and those young kids rose to the occasion for the Eagle on their chest. With old heads like Jamie Vlatko and Shane Ryan showing the way, East Coast weathered everything that was thrown at them, including yet another false fire alarm warning from the stands.

It was a gutsy victory and notwithstanding the injuries throughout the Club at the current time, credit must be given to all three senior teams who won their respective matches. In particular Sean Streat’s “Thirds” were perhaps the stars of the weekend when they knocked off the previously undefeated Moorebank on their home ground. In a highly entertaining game, the Eagles won going away by 33 points.

Round 5 next Saturday May 15^th, finally sees all five teams playing at home on Bruce Purser Reserve in a plethora of football. First game is at 10.00am and the last at 7.00pm with the main Premier League match a twilight fixture against Campbelltown starting  at 4.10pm.                   

East Coast Eagles   6.3     9.3     11.7    13.7 (85)

Western Suburbs    2.1     3.7     8.10    9.13 (67)

Goal Kickers: Jamie Vlatko 4, Peter Dugmore 2, Trent Baker 2, Ben Rogers, Kristian Pearson, Shane Ryan, Mike Beardsley, Daniel Spiteri.
Best Players: Ben Physick, Rowan Bilkey, Jamie Vlatko, Shane Ryan, Daniel Spiteri, Jake Pianta.

Click here for Premier Division ladder

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