RAIN lashed Alberton Oval in the second half as Port Adelaide went down to reigning premier Woodville-West Torrens by 26 points on Saturday afternoon.
The Magpies lost some talent in the midfield from the win over Glenelg, with Xavier Duursma selected in the AFL side and Sam Mayes, Jackson Mead and Hugh Jackson missing through health and safety protocols.
The Magpies also lost contracted players Jackson Lee, Anthony Wilson and Luke Surman before the game due to health and safety protocols.
However, it was buoyed by the inclusion of returning star forward Charlie Dixon - playing his first game of the season at any level after two bouts of ankle surgery following a pre-season training incident.
Port went with a different combination in the centre bounce to start the game with skipper Cam Sutcliffe, Lachie Jones and Taj Schofield joining the returning Dante Visentini in the midfield.
The Eagles’ experience in the engine room took control early, as they kicked the first two goals of the game through Daniel Menzel.
The Magpies were struggling, with disposal efficiency down and simple errors around the ground.
However, a slick bit of movement allowed Jake Weidemann to mark and goal for Port’s first to stem the tide.
The goal would settle the Magpies as they only trailed by seven points at the first change.
The Eagles would kick the first two of the quarter again, but the second term belonged to the Magpies.
Run and impact from Marty Frederick was there to see as Port piled on the next four goals.
The returning Dixon gave the home fans plenty to celebrate with a beautiful kick in front of the Bob Quinn Grandstand to register his first comeback goal.
Frederick would intercept an Eagles kick out of defence to pass to Ethan Moore who would convert the set shot, before joining the party himself with a running bomb from 50 following a bone-crushing Dante Visentini tackle.
The second quarter rampage was capped off by Dyl Williams who converted from the same pocket as Dixon had earlier.
Lachie Jones was running rampant in the midfield with 11 touches at the main change, while Matt Appleton, Jed McEntee, Ethan Moore and debutant Aryan Sareen had 10 each.
The rain came down hard during the half-time break, which changed the style of game into a wet and contested scrap.
It favoured the Eagles who were able to use the ball cleaner during the third term, who quickly took away the Magpies’ five-point half-time lead.
Menzel missed an opportunity early, but Mitchell Mead made no mistake with the Eagles’ first of the term.
Port’s game was restricted as it struggled to clear the ball out of defence, with it locked in the visitors’ forward half.
The Magpies were held scoreless as the five-point half-time lead turned into a 15-point deficit at three-quarter-time.
The Eagles buried the game early in the final term through Jack Firns to make it 21 points in a low-scoring affair.
Williams would slot his second for the game and the first for the Magpies in the second half to cut the margin to 19 points at the 19-minute mark of the final term.
Jake Weidemann would get another goal late, also for his second, but it was too little, too late for Port.
Jones was Port’s best with 24 touches, three tackles and three clearances. while Ethan Moore had one of his best games for the club with 23 disposals and five clearances.
SCOREBOARD
Port Adelaide 1.2 5.3 5.3 7.5 (47)
WWT Eagles 2.3 4.4 7.6 11.7 (73)
Port Adelaide
Goals: Weidemann, Williams 2, Dixon, Frederick, E. Moore.
Best: Jones, E. Moore, Schofield, J. Burgoyne, Frederick.
