MATCH OF THE ROUND
WILSTON GRANGE 0.2.2 DEFEATED BY COORPAROO 22.8.141
It isn’t any great secret that Coorparoo are one of the best sides in the competition, but even the most loyal QWAFL followers didn’t see this one coming.
On a wet, windy afternoon at PBI oval, the Navy Roos dominated from siren to siren, handling the greasy conditions expertly to totally dominate Wilston Grange.
Coorparoo moved the ball forward with ease in the opening quarter and the Gorillas were feeling the pinch early, spending the first 10 minutes trapped in their back fifty.
Wilston Grange battled hard to deny the Navy Roos, but Kate Cantrell made the most of Coorparoo’s pressure, slotting two quick ones to open the game up.
Leading by 27-points at the first change, Coorparoo upped the anti in the second quarter to completely suffocate the Gorillas.
Sally Young was a standout, booting three goals and chasing down absolutely everything to put all the pressure on Wilston Grange.
The Gorillas did their job to stop the bleeding, but it was clear that Coorparoo were a cut above as the Navy Roos kicked six for the term to blow the lead out to 62-points at the main break.
The third quarter started no better for Wilston Grange, with Emma Zielke bolting out of the middle in the opening minute to snap a beauty from 35 meters.
Wilston Grange tried to desperately to kick a goal in the second half, and although Katie McGlade threatened inside fifty a few times, the Gorillas just couldn’t put the points on the board.
The Gorillas never adjusted to the conditions as well as Coorparoo, and when Madeleine Morrison kicked a goal with the fortune of an Angus Monfries like bounce, the game was all but over.
From there, Coorparoo tightened the screws on the Gorillas, kicking 10 unanswered goals to smash a deflated Wilston Grange by 139-points.
Shannon Campbell was again Wilston Grange’s best on, playing exceptional well out of the half-back line to keep some of Coorparoo’s stars at bay.
Five wins in a row for the Navy Roos now sets up a mouthwatering top of the table clash with Coolangatta next Saturday.
Coach’s thoughts
Bernie Cantrell – Coorparoo
“Definitely didn’t expect to kick that many in the wet, the girls ball movement and skill today surprised me, they’ve done a really good job.
“The girls are starting to come together and even the new girls are starting to get a bit of the footy now, it’s looking good for us but we have to keep working away.
“I put the challenge to a few girls before the game that I wanted to see the man on man pressure the whole game and they did the job so I’m really pleased.
“My main focus now is just to keep the girls heads and keep focusing on what we are doing to hopefully have a big one against Cooly next week.”
Ron Kemp – Wilston Grange
“For our girls the thing I was happy about was they kept at it, they didn’t drop their heads, they had a crack, but we were up against a fairly classy side.
“They used the ball a lot better than we did and they were a lot cleaner, but those are games you have to learn from and the girls understand now that’s where they’ve got to be to compete with the top sides.
“Skill wise they have about eight or nine state players in their side, so you expect them to be up, ours was not too bad but we weren’t as clean and we were under pressure all the time.
“We really just have to come out and start hunting for the football and getting hold of the football a lot more, we had chances tonight but we lost it through the middle.”
COOLANGATTA 28.30.198 DEFEATED GRIFFITH MOOROOKA 0.0.0
This one was always going to be a lopsided battle, and Coolangatta flexed their muscles over bottom placed Griffith Moorooka on Saturday, thrashing the Reds by 198-points.
The Bluebirds continued their trend of starting games quickly, kicking eight majors in the opening term to lead by 55-points at quarter time.
Despite missing Leah Kaslar and a host of their regular stars, Coolangatta didn’t miss a beat on home soil, moving the ball beautifully to set up chance after chance inside fifty.
Jordan Membrey played a sparkling role up forward for the Bluebirds, kicking five goals in her return to the QWAFL.
Griffith Moorooka’s spirit and intent on the football was extremely impressive, but Coolangatta were in a league of their own as they raced to a 94-point half-time lead.
Unfortunately for Griffith Moorooka it was much of the same in the second half as Coolangatta continued to pepper the goals in the third quarter.
Bethany Pinchin played a stellar game for the Bluebirds in the middle of the ground, while Rosalie Adamson extended her multiple goal kicking streak to five games with three classy majors.
The conditions didn’t help the struggling Reds, who found it tough to keep up with the elite pace and silky ball skills from Coolangatta.
Wendy Ng and Hope Skehan were standouts for Griffith Moorooka, but in the end Coolangatta were far too strong for the Reds, with a huge 64-point final term putting the icing on cake.
Coolangatta now move to 6-0 this season and are clearly the team to beat.
Coach’s thoughts
Aaron Russell – Coolangatta
“I thought Griffith came out pretty strong and they handled the conditions pretty well, I don’t think the score is a testament to the game, they were good in patches and moved the ball well.
“There are a couple of areas where we can improve, but overall I was very happy with how we played.
“I thought our intensity went up and down a bit, but when I challenged the girls at each of the breaks they responded and played some good footy.
“Our last quarter was probably our best, the first half we maybe didn’t play the way we wanted too, but we turned it around and played some good clean football.
Glenn Hogetts – Griffith Moorooka
“Coolangatta are a good side and they are quick so we knew we were up against it, but I think the girls went good.
“There was a good part of the game where we could hold them up and we went up and down the ground a few times without Cooly touching it which was good to see.
“Our girls have gotten a lot better since the start of the year, the scoreboard doesn’t show it because we played an elite side, but the signs are there.
YERONGA 9.13.67 DEFEATED UQ 2.2.14
Yeronga needed to win this one to stay in touch with the top two sides, and the Devils did just that, playing a brilliant third quarter to run away 53-point winners over a gallant UQ outfit.
Conditions weren’t ideal at Leyshon Park on Saturday, and the cold, windy weather made it hard for either side to get clean hands on the football in the first quarter.
The contest was scrappy in the early going, with neither side finding much space to move the football forward and do some damage on the scoreboard.
Yeronga had the lions share of possession in the opening term, but couldn’t finish the job off in front of goals, wasting a few easy opportunities.
Down by just nine points at the first change, UQ were more than holding their own against the heavily favoured Yeronga thanks to some brilliant work in the midfield from the returning Belle Baldock.
Much like the first quarter, Yeronga had all the pressure up forward, but were somewhat wasteful in another scrappy quarter.
A late goal to Selhorst rewarded the Devils pressure in the second term, but it was still anyones game at the main break, with Yeronga leading by just 25-points.
Everything started going right for the Devils in the third quarter, with Ransfield and Newberry both kicking multiple goals to help stretch the lead for Yeronga.
Emily Bates played a key role in the midfield for the Devils, dominating the centre clearances and dictating the stoppages to give Yeronga all the momentum.
UQ were once again extremely competitive, proving that they have all the capabilities to upset any team on any given day.
Baldock and Shewring were standouts for the Red Lionesses, while a late goal to Marnie McGorm helped reduce the margin for UQ.
In the end, it was the four goal third term that secured the 53-point win for Yeronga, keeping them in third spot on the table and in striking distance of the QWAFL’s elite.
Coach’s thoughts
Scott Stephens – Yeronga
“We had a shaky start, we probably could have done a lot more damage early on, but the conditions weren’t the best and the ball was very slippery early on.
“We put in a really good third quarter and then later in the game the heavy conditions put a toll on both teams – we don’t really train for wet conditions but the girls learnt a lot.
“Our girls played well and more of our highly skilled players handled the ball solidly – Emily Bates and Jade Ransfield took some great marks – but looking back at the game, the conditions definitely affected our ball use.
“We are trying to get as much momentum as we can for when we play Coorparoo or Coolangatta next and I think today was a good start.”
Michael Swann – UQ
“I think we can still improve every week, we were maybe a little bit disappointed with the third quarter, but outside of that we played pretty well.
“They moved the ball pretty well and linked up solidly, but I think overall our attack on the footy was the biggest let down, if we can increase that aggressiveness it will hold us in good stead.
“We have been happy with how we have done so far but we are not complacent, we have got Grange and Griffith coming up so hopefully we can get two wins there and then we might surprise a few teams – I still think we are in with a chance of finals.”
By Grant Hitzman – @granthitzman
