sport, local-sport

WESTERN Storm made Tasmanian football history last night by becoming the first club through to the second round of the Foxtel Cup, after holding on to defeat reigning South Australian premier West Adelaide in a thriller at Adelaide Oval. The Storm, which has been described as the mystery team in the knockout competition, went goalless in the final term, but still managed to stun the Bloods, finishing 9.7 (61) to 8.9 (57). The Tasmanian State League club put the pressure on early in the match, with Shaun Collis kicking the first goal. By quarter-time the Tasmanian State League club led 4.2 (26) to 2.1 (13). The Storm extended the lead to 18 points by half-time and West Adelaide kicked a goal on the three quarter-time siren to take it to 9.6 (60) to 7.4 (46). The Storm went goalless in the final term and gave the Bloods plenty of opportunity to come back, with 11 inside-50 entries, but the Adelaide side only scored one goal with 19 seconds left. Storm coach Mitch Hills told Fox Footy after the game that it was a fantastic win for the club. ``I didn't really know what to expect coming into it,'' he said. ``We planned for a stronger outfit from them, but it was a bit of an unknown and they threw some guys at us that we didn't really know. ``I'm really happy with the boys, we had a game plan coming in and they stuck to it.'' Collis and Bart McCulloch were the multiple goal-kickers for the Storm with two each. Matt Hanson (15 disposals), Jay Blackberry (12), Thane Bardenhagen (12), and Mitch Hills (10) were the leading ball-getters and Zane Brown kicked a goal and had 10 possessions. Western Storm will take on either the Box Hill Hawks or West Perth in its semi-final Foxtel Cup clash on Tuesday, June 24. If it wins, it will then progress through to the grand final and play for $100,000 prizemoney.

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