1. Down by 13 points with less than two minutes on the clock it seemed unlikely the Eagles could snare a victory in this one. But forward veterans Oscar Allen and Jamie Cripps had other ideas. When Allen kicked a set shot goal the margin was seven points with 93 seconds remaining. A centre clearance and a clever dribble from Cripps closed it to a solitary behind with a minute remaining. And then Allen produced a remarkable snap to send the Eagles five points clear with 18 seconds remaining.

2. That pulsating finish will be forever etched into the Eagles history books as one of the great comeback victories, recovering from a 35-point third quarter deficit. The finish by Allen and Cripps was the end result of some outstanding work by both of them through the afternoon. Allen kicked five goals from a team-high 10 score involvements, eight contested possessions and five marks inside 50. Cripps racked up 16 pressure acts and seven score involvements to kick three goals.

3. In defence Jeremy McGovern was remarkable, but equally encouraging was the continued development of Reuben Ginbey, Brady Hough and Harvey Johnson. Ginbey has relished the switch to half-back and provided important rebound, while Hough and Johnston did likewise. Ginbey had 14 possessions, two intercept marks and gained 339 metres. Indicative of their importance in running the ball out of the back half they had 19 handballs received between them.

4. Elliot Yeo (17 possessions, 10 contested, two clearances) and Tim Kelly (19 possessions, 11 contested, five clearances) have racked up bigger numbers countless times, but they were crucial at the coal face. And a couple of youngsters were also important. Zane Trew shadowed Luke Davies-Uniacke for much of the day and while he had 28 touches he was under duress with almost every touch. Trew had 16 possessions but was involved in 17 pressure acts. Ryan Marik also produced an eye-catching performance on the wing with 16 possessions (six contested, four clearances) as he continued to grow in a new role.

5. There could not have been a more appropriate finale to this game with Andrew Gaff taking a mark on 50 as the clock ticked towards full time. He sent it deep and from the resulting congestion Oscar Allen snapped the match winner. Gaff started as the sub, was introduced into the game in the third quarter and gathered nine possessions, two marks and three clearances in his abbreviated game time.