The Collie Eagles lost all hope of a finals berth on the weekend when they suffered a 31 point loss at the hands of Carey Park.
The Eagles got off to a strong start dominating the midfield battle early to enter their forward half with regularity but poor efforts from the forward line saw opportunities squandered.
Without any scoreboard pressure upon them Carey Park was able to steady on the ball and boot five goals to one in the first quarter.
The hard work continued for the remainder of the game as the Panthers got out to a 43 point lead at three quarter time before Collie pegged it back by two goals in the last.
Work along the wings from Brayden Lawler, Chris Rintoul and David Roche sparked the early spurt and was a catalyst for the Panthers for the majority of the day and it allowed forwards to take advantage.
Michael McGarry looked especially dangerous booting four goals while Matt Martin kicked two from plenty of shots.
Much of the credit goes to the players in Carey Park’s backline.
Defensive work from the Panthers saw many of Collie’s forward 50 entries end in futile efforts.
Sam Browne was especially good down back for the Panthers despite going off in the third quarter with a bloody nose after receiving a nasty whack in a marking contest.
Collie evened things up in the second half with both teams kicking five-goals-six.
Adam Bignall and Jason Mead were working well around the ground but it wasn’t enough to get Collie back in the contest.
Carey Park will now look for wins in their next two games against the Harvey Bulls and Busselton before their finals campaign.
The Panthers would need to win their next two matches and have Eaton lose their next two in order to finish third and gain the double chance.
A win next week for the Panthers will assure them a fourth spot and a home game in the first elimination final.
