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Port Adelaide Magpies into finals

Port Adelaide Magpies have brushed aside an in-form Woodville-West-Torrens to charge into the SANFL finals with a commanding 49-point victory at Alberton Oval on Sunday.

The Magpies made their intentions known from the outset with ruckman James Mieklejohn on top and the onball brigade led by Brad Murray throwing itself into the fray and physically upsetting their opponents.

The workrate of the home side and its hunger for the hard ball rattled the Eagles all day, who struggled to find any answers.

With Justin Perkins (31 disposals and three goals) and Jeremy Clayton (30 disposals and four goals) getting busy and the defence holding the high ground, the Magpies burst to a 39-point lead at half-time.

The Eagles could manage just two goals for the middle two quarters, compared to Port Adelaide’s nine for the same period.

By three-quarter time, the season was all but over for the Eagles in the most disappointing of fashions after the amount of work they put in over the past month to get into finals contention.

There was no relaxing either in the Magpies’ work rate in the final term as they continued to force turnovers and punish the Eagles on the rebound in claiming the last finals berth 16.13 (109) to 8.12 (60).

Port Adelaide’s spirit was especially highlighted by Michael Clinch, who played in the reserves and then the majority of the league game as a late replacement for Power-listed Nathan Krakouer.

In his usual jovial manner, Magpies coach Tim Ginevar declared his side was now just four wins away from taking another SANFL premiership.

Stephen O’Loughlin/The Advertiser