By Benito Carbone @_DavidCarbone

Woodville Warriors 81 | Forestville Eagles 66

A stunning fight-back from a depleted Warriors outfit has seen them come from 12 points down to defeat a courageous Forestville Eagles side at St Clair on Saturday night. Surrounded by an incredible atmosphere, it was Nelson Kirksey who stood tallest for the hosts with a tremendous 29 points and 20 rebounds, 8 of which were offensive.

Massive second half performances from Miller (14 points), Stanbridge (14 points) and Twigg (9 points) also helped to propel Woodville to the victory. Jake Rios played his role superbly for the Eagles, scoring 30 points. But the Doyle-less visitors were left searching for more answers, with Fildes being the only other player to enter double figures (16 points).

It was a strong start from the Eagles, with early points from Rios allowing the away side to take an early lead. A triple before the buzzer for Gerlach (9 boards) handed Forestville an 8-point lead as the Warriors struggled to find any rhythm in their offense. The visitors continued to take it up to Woodville, with a dunk from Megins pushing the lead to a game-high 12 points. Despite the strong defensive effort by the Eagles, the tide began to turn in the shadows before half time. Kirksey started to warm up with a vital triple, before Squire put up another in the final seconds to cut the margin to just three points at the break.

With Rios seemingly unstoppable, Woodville were in need of a heroic effort from Kirksey and his fellow shooters to walk out of the arena with their finals hopes intact. They did not disappoint. The hosts took the lead early in the third term and dunks from the Warriors import and Stanbridge in succession helped them forge an 8-point gap over the faltering Eagles. Woodville’s awesome pressure continued to force turnovers, but Forestville were able to keep them at bay for the rest of the quarter, with the score 52 to 46. With the match in the balance, Leon Twigg played a huge five minutes for the hosts, hitting three from outside to extend their lead. The Eagles continued to avoid panic, but their defensive structures failed to hold Nelson Kirksey, who had 22 points in the second half to pull hid side to a 15-point win.

After the match, Kirksey expressed his satisfaction with the side’s comeback, while also talking up Woodville’s chances and debriefing anyone curious on Darren Ng’s injury timeframe.

“First half we were a little shaky. We just had to find out what worked for us because every game is different. We ended the half really well (and) came out in the second half with great energy, basically just guarding the ball. Ball pressure changed the game for us.

[When asked if Woodville could be premiers] “Definitely, with that type of defence and that type of effort, when we compete we can do great things, so it’s just all about preparing for the next one and staying focused.

“It’s another game. Sturt’s a tough team but we’re tough as well. It’s just going to come down to who wants it and who plays harder.

“It’s questionable. He might be, so look out for him.”