All the action from this weekend’s Allied Pickfords Cup.
Palm Beach vs. Wilston Grange
Wilston Grange 7.3, 10.9, 13.12, 21.17 (143)
Palm Beach Currumbin 2.2, 6.7, 14.13, 18.15 (123)
Wilston Grange survived a nerve-wracking second-half to pull off an upset 21.17.143-18.15.123 win over Palm Beach on Saturday.
Playing coach Matt Trewhella was dominant in his return to the field kicking seven goals.
Leading by 26 points at half-time, the Gorillas’ lead was whittled away in the third quarter, by a massive effort from #1, who kicked four for the quarter.
The Lions looked likely to run over the top of Wilston Grange in the dying minutes, but a superb effort from ruckman Benjamin Haire saw the Gorillas win key centre clearances.
What the coaches said:
Matt Trewhella (Wilston Grange):
“I won’t say (it was) season defining but I think we needed to have a 4-quarter effort and win the game.”
“(In the last quarter) I just thought we’ve got to win this game, we’ve got to kick goals, we’ve got to get scoreboard pressure on them.”
“Once we took some big marks in the forward line we were pretty confident we would get over the line.”
Noosa vs. Western Magpies
Western Magpies 3.2, 5.9, 10.12, 14.13 (97)
Noosa 1.3, 2.3, 5.6, 7.10 (52)
An undermanned Western Magpies outfit notched up their third straight win of 2013, over Noosa.
The Magpies, had only one player on the bench for much of the game, but still managed to close out the game well.
Matt Thompson continued his blistering start to the season with five goals for the Magpies.
What the coaches said:
Wayne Fletcher (Noosa):
“The second quarter we probably let ourselves down a bit and let them get on top and tailed for the rest of the game.”
“Their ball use was far superior to us. We turned it over a bit too much and they used it a bit better than we did.”
“We have a few younger players in our group and a few other players are adapting to intensity of senior football.”
Craig St John (Western Magpies):
“It was a hard slog all day.”
“The guys delivered. It was a great effort to win with a depleted side.”
“Jimmy Rozynski led from the front and Billy Moorhead was great in the centres.”
“We weren’t hitting targets in the forward line. It was a bit of a mix-matched line, but we still had the power to kick goals.”
Surfers vs. Mayne
Surfers Paradise 3.2, 6.4, 9.7, 15.15 (105)
Mayne 4.2, 6.5, 8.7, 11.7 (73)
A six-goal final quarter sealed a second straight win for Surfers Paradise, over an injury-depleted Mayne side on Saturday.
The Demons led by a kick at the final change, before slamming on the scores in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
Mayne lost Benn McElligott in the opening exchanges, and Luke Faulkner went down with a calf injury just shy of half time, leaving the Tigers with two on the bench.
Regan Finlay shone for the Demons, playing on Tigers captain Caleb Brown, with supporting performances by ruckman Nick Cunningham and Brody Haberfield.
What the coaches said:
Beau Zorko (Surfers):
“Without wanting to sound bullish, it should have been a lot more comfortable – We won a lot of ball and failed to use it as well as we should.”
“We’ve still got a lot of polishing to do on our skill execution.”
“Outside of Regan, I think it was a pretty even contribution, which was pleasing.”
“I’m really excited about our scope of improvement.
“We went into (Round one against) Palm Beach one game short and then last week we had good closing 20 minutes. This week, it was more like 30-40 minutes.
“So, we’re certainly improving.”
Mitch Ferguson (Mayne):
“It was an improved effort.”
“Out last quarter is something we have to address. That’s three in a row now where we’ve been well-beaten in the last quarter.”
“I thought we stuck to our structures in the first three quarters quite well.
“The opposition’s ball use was far superior to us.”
Springwood vs. Burleigh
Springwood continued its unbeaten run in 2013, with a win over Burleigh on Saturday.
Eighteen year-old Angus Hubert starred in his first game, with four goals, in the Pumas’ comfortable victory.
It was another big-body contest for the Pumas, who were coming off a tough match against Mayne last weekend.
The win puts Springwood second on the ladder, as one of three unbeaten sides.
What the coaches said:
Springwood 6.4, 12.8, 17.10, 19.11 (125)
Burleigh 4.1, 6.6, 11.10, 14.12 (96)
Tony King (Springwood):
“It was a very hard-fought win.”
“Offensively, we were very good. We kicked 19 goals again so that was very good.
Probably just the other way, we leaked a few more than we would’ve liked.
“Burleigh wouldn’t be too far off a win.”
“We’ve got a few areas we want to look at.”
“When the ball is going defensively, we need to man up a little bit more.”
“We’ve got a young midfield and they run forward really well but don’t always run the other way.”
Shane Williams (Burleigh):
“We made some really bad skill errors in the second quarter and missed some easy shots at goal, which allowed Springwood to get five on us at half time and then they got the first two in the third.”
“After that, I think we outscored them and outplayed them.”
“Our improvement from game one to yesterday has been enormous.”
“I think we started to outrun them – their run and work rate was really good early and I think we sort of got over the top of them.”
“We need to get a win on the board. Fact of the matter is we’re 0-3. Good performances but not winning is not good enough.”
Sandgate vs. Maroochydore
Sandgate 2.6, 6.9, 9.11, 11.18 (84)
Maroochydore 0.1, 3.3, 5.5, 9.5 (59)
Sandgate picked up its first win this season, over Maroochydore, on Saturday.
The match could have been over in the first quarter, but a return of 2.6 from the Hawks kept the Roos in touch early in the match.
Maroochy, with eight new players in their side this week, struggled to gel throughout the day.
What the coaches said:
Rob Dickfos (Sandgate):
“I’m. It’s just a good reward for the work that they’ve put in so far.
“It was an ugly game. If we hadn’t kicked as poorly as we did, it could have been a lot more comfortable.”
“I haven’t been talking about winning before this.”
“I’ve just been focusing on learning about each player and their capabilities. “We’ve shown in the two games that we’re capable of playing good football.”
“The next step was to really apply intense pressure and get rewards rather than just be close enough.”
Brett Maloney (Maroochydore):
“It was our worst performance of the year, to be honest.”
“We were out-enthused by a pretty young and eager side. We were reactive and we were slow.”
“We were second to the footy and when we did get our hands on the footy we didn’t use it, we turned it over and gave it back to them.”
“It’s not easy when you’re chasing backside all day.”
“They kept us in it to be honest. We could have been shot at quarter-time.”
The scoreboard actually flattered us.”
Coolangatta vs. UQ
University of Queensland 4 .5.29 5.6.36 10.9.69 12.9.81
Coolangatta Tweed 1.1.7 3.5.23 6.8.44 14.14.98
An eight-goal final quarter gave Coolangatta a come from behind win over UQ on Sunday.
The Blues trailed by 25 points at the final change, but stormed home to take the win.
Toby Atkins starred in the ruck for the home side, while UQ youngster Zac Southern continued his blistering form for the Red Lions.
What the coaches said:
Daniel Hawkins (Coolangatta):
“For a lot of the game, they played the brand of footy we wanted to play.”
“In the last quarter, we had guys that lifted and brought the ball forward.”
“We were shocked at how they came out and it took us a while to find our feet.”
Matt Stewart (UQ):
“It’s not too disappointing to have a loss. Had we stuck to the game plan for 120 minutes and lost, that would have been all right.”
“We were in and out of the game.
“I think when we were mentally switched on we could win in a lot of areas. However, we switched off and they were winning in every area of the game.”
“They ran harder and longer than us.”
