West Coast ruckman Nic Naitanui kicked a goal after the final siren to lift the Eagles to a thrilling two-point victory over North Melbourne in Friday night’s AFL clash at Patersons Stadium.
Naitanui plucked a spectacular pack mark with just 27 seconds remaining, and calmly slotted the goal from 25m out on a slight angle to secure the 12.18 (90) to 13.10 (88) victory.
Eagles teammates mobbed Naitanui after he kicked the goal, with the climax a fitting way to celebrate skipper Darren Glass’ 250th game.
But the result was gut-wrenching for the Kangaroos, who slipped to a 3-5 record after experiencing similarly heartbreaking losses to Geelong and Hawthorn earlier in the season.
The Kangaroos led by nine points with just five minutes remaining, but they couldn’t repel the Eagles in a frenetic finish.
The win improved West Coast’s record to 4-4, keeping alive their hopes of finishing in the top-four.
But once again their shoddy goalkicking almost brought about their undoing, with only Naitanui’s heroics saving their blushes.
North Melbourne spearhead Majak Daw, who booted six goals last week, failed to fire, finishing with just one goal from four possessions before being subbed out in the third quarter.
Kangaroos defender Scott Thompson faces a nervous wait after being reported for an off-the-ball hit on Matt Rosa.
North Melbourne were left embarrassed after copping a 96-point flogging in last year’s elimination final against West Coast in Perth.
But they were a far more determined unit this time around, winning the inside-50m count 22-9 in the opening term to open up a 17-point lead.
West Coast were dealt a huge blow when prime mover Sharrod Wellingham suffered a game-ending ankle injury in the opening quarter.
They almost lost Jacob Brennan in the second quarter, but the nuggety defender was able to recover from a heavy head clash with Sam Wright.
West Coast defender Will Schofield played out the final quarter basically one-handed after injuring an arm in the third quarter.
But the Eagles overcame the injury setbacks to stun North Melbourne at the death.
Naitanui finished with 18 possessions and 20 hit-outs, while Josh Hill booted three goals.
Aaron Black kicked three goals for North Melbourne, while Brent Harvey and Daniel Wells were important through the midfield, and Lachie Hansen took a number of good grabs in defence.
Daw cut a frustrated figure for much of the match, and thrust his hand into the face of Schofield in the opening term after being brought down in a marking contest.