SWFL: Serious ankle injury to Greg Humphries brings game between Eaton and South Bunbury to early end

A serious ankle injury to Greg Humphries brought Sunday’s South West Football League clash between Eaton and South Bunbury at Hands Oval to an early end. The Boomers’ captain went down in the opening stages of the final term and his condition attracted immediate concern, prompting the game to be paused while an ambulance was called. After a 20-minute delay, the match was deemed over with the ambulance arriving about 10 minutes later to transport Humphries to hospital. As the game was past half-time, the result was made official, with the Tigers receiving four premiership points for a 10.11 (71) to 3.5 (23) victory, allowing them to get back on the winners list after successive losses and to move up to fourth on the ladder. Humphries had kicked a goal and been among his side’s best players afield in the game, battling hard as they struggled to match the quality of the hosts. For the Tigers, Mitch Bain and Jye Clark (two goals) were prolific through the middle of the ground, while Kade Wallrodt and Ethan Nordahl also kicked two goals apiece to lead a balanced attacking effort. Eaton, who also had a number of other players injured on the day, were not short of endeavour but ultimately lacked the spread of contributors enjoyed by the reigning premiers. Having been dominated at the contest in the first half, the Boomers looked to send extra numbers to the coalface in the second, but that allowed the Tigers to make use of spare players behind the ball. Playing their last game at Hands Oval for at least a month as the ground undergoes preparations for next month’s historic AFL game, the Tigers started fast, taking a 25-point lead into the first break. Humphries was sent to full-forward in the second term and was able to provide his side with a viable target, though their 30-point half-time gap would have been much bigger had South Bunbury managed more than a sole goal from their seven scoring shots. Tigers spearhead Blaine Johnson summed up his side’s goal-kicking woes by uncharacteristically misfiring with a pair of set shots shortly after the resumption but made no mistake with his third, which came as the direct result of an errant kick-in. Any optimistic hopes of an Eaton comeback were quelled by Wallrodt rolling home his second major from the goal-square in the early stages of the final term before the game’s abrupt finish.