By Beth Newman
MT GRAVATT v SURFERS PARADISE
Surfers Paradise kept the race for the fifth finals spot alive, with a 21-point win over Mt Gravatt.
Both teams battled in windy conditions, but it was the Demons who made the most of their opportunities on a day when the breeze played a major role.
Surfers Paradise’s talls loomed large in the win, particularly Ben Merrett, who was a focal point in the forward line and effective in the ruck as well.
With scores level at half time, the Demons broke the game open in the third term, to take 39-point lead to the final change, before withstanding a strong Vultures challenge in the last.
Surfers Paradise coach, Beau Zorko, said the win, which puts them outside the five on percentage, was vital to keep their season alive.
“I think it (making finals) would’ve been like climbing Everest, if we didn’t get over the line today,” he said.
“To be there on equal points, gives us the opportunity and opens up the back half of the season.”
Demons forward, Dane Grant will be under an injury cloud after coming off with a hamstring injury.
Mt Gravatt had their fair share of chances, but couldn’t take advantage when they had the breeze, with coach, Brad Pollock, lamenting that fact after the game.
“Straight up, it’s a missed opportunity,” he said.
With a host of senior players missing from the match, the inexperience of the Vultures showed, Pollock said.
“You’ll get good games out of the young blokes, but you can’t expect them week in, week out,” he said.
“The good thing is we’re not out of the finals race, we’ll get some key players back in the next 2-3 weeks.”
It was one of those younger brigade, Jonah Licht, who provided the highlights for his side, a strong target up forward.
In another injury blow to the Vultures, Frazer Neate suffered an AC injury in the second term, the severity of which is yet to be confirmed.
See how this match unfolded,live, here.
LABRADOR v WILSTON GRANGE
Labrador withstood a late challenge from Wilston Grange, cementing their third spot in the process.
Trailing by 33 points at three-quarter time, the Gorillas closed the gap to just nine points midway through the last, before Labrador kicked the final four of the game, including three to Chris Turner.
After a tight first quarter in blustery conditions, the Tigers failed to convert any of their nine scoring shots into a goal, kicking against the breeze, leaving them with a 4.15 return to half time.
Labrador coach, Steve Daniel, rued those missed opportunities after the match.
“We missed five from 30 metres out, directly in front,” he said.“They copped a fair baking at half time about taking those opportunities.”
“It was just a really hard game to play.”
Daniel was pleased with the character his side showed late.
“We really had to fight really hard,” he said.
“The most pleasing thing was we got challenged in the last quarter and stood up.
“But it wasn’t easy, let me tell you.”
The Tigers’ horrendous luck with injury continued in the win, with new recruit, Shaydon Bloomfield, suffering a suspected ACL injury in the first five minutes, while Dyson Budarick rolled his ankle, cutting his day short.
Wilston Grange coach, Matt Trewhella said he was feeling confident, after the Gorillas quelled the influence of key defenders, Tom Daniel and Kurt Niklaus late in the game.
“I honestly thought we had it (in the last), we had a lot of momentum, we kicked a couple of goals,” he said.
“They just finished stronger than we did.”
John James and Jack James both stood tall for the Gorillas, who are remain one win out of the top five.
BROADBEACH v MORNINGSIDE
On a day when everything clicked for Morningside, they stretched out their unbeaten streak to 11, with a win over Broadbeach.
In the 22.14 (146) -11.8 (74) win, the Panthers played some of their most damaging football of the season, controlling proceedings all day.
It didn’t go all the Panthers’ way, with Aspley-listed Jon Williams injuring his ankle in the first quarter.
Morningside coach, David Lake, cut a relaxed figure after the game, full of praise for his charges.
“The mistakes that make you uptight after a game, they weren’t there today,” he said.
“The handball that doesn’t hit, hit today,” he said.
Nathan Kinch was again outstanding for Morningside, finishing with three goals, playing off the half-back flank, doing no harm to his Grogan Medal hopes.
Morningside’s support acts, including Alastair Nash and Ben Niland-Rowe, continued their 2014 improvement, while Ash Evans showed yet again why he’s been tagged the “Rolls Royce”.
The hole left by James Royes in the Broadbeach side showed, with Morningside key forward, Kent Abey, bagging six, and a goalless first term hurt their chances early.
Cats coach, Wayne Petterd, said the performance undid a lot of the side’s recent improvement.
“That probably set us back five or six weeks, compared to our last two weeks, where we beat Mt Gravatt and Labrador,” he said.
“We just didn’t adjust to their style of footy.”
“When sides get runs on, we can’t stop it. Our three losses have been by around 80 points (because of that).”
There is one thing Petterd was sure of after the loss.
“We played a bit of soccer at training on Tuesday,”he said.
“We won’t be doing that again.”
UQ v PALM BEACH
Palm Beach catapulted back into the QAFL top two, with their biggest win of the season, a 154-point victory over UQ.
The Lions kicked 26.19 in the win, but it was their defensive ability which was completely suffocating, restricting the home side to just the two goals, in the 26.19 (175) – 2.9 (21) win.
Palm Beach coach, Daryn Cresswell, said that stingy defensive play was the biggest positive for his side.
“We defended really well and we set up our counter attack, kicking to dangerous places,” he said.
“We started to turn a corner last week, we were pretty brutal in the last term and
Bryce Tomlinson was impressive on debut for Palm Beach, while Clint Kelly bagged five majors.
Kristan Higgs suffered a hamstring injury in the match, likely to keep him out for up to three weeks, while Bryce Perry-Bolt could be in doubt after a knee strain.
UQ coach, Matt Stewart, said the side’s depth was heavily tested, and ultimately outclassed, in the disappointing loss.
“Today was probably the first time all year we haven’t improved on the previous week,” he said.
“We had eight forced changed and we just don’t have the depth…that hurts us.
“They were really good with the contested ball, they executed with their skills.”
Young ruckman, Michael Cavaye, stood up for the Red Lions on a difficult day.
There will be more changes for UQ in the coming weeks, after they lost Alex Bateman to a hamstring injury in the first five minutes.
SANDGATE v WESTERN MAGPIES
The Western Magpies have leapfrogged twoteams to put themselves in finals contention, after a 99-point win over Sandgate.
Their 19.11 (125) – 3.8 (26) defeat of the Hawks at Lemke Rd and the percentage boost that came with it, saw them overtake Wilston Grange and Surfers Paradise to sit in sixth spot.
Jordan Bain had five goals before the first siren blew, finishing with an incredible 11-goal haul for the day, in one of the Magpies’ most dominant games of the year.
It was the Magpies’ defence that coach, Glenn Humphrey ,was most pleased with, as they held the Hawks to just one goal until deep in the final term.
“I think it’s probably the best defensive game we’ve played all season,” he said.
After letting Sandgate get the jump in their last match up, the Magpies were determined to take control from the start, with an eight-goal opening term.
From there, they never really looked like losing, running the ball well, led by strong midfield efforts from Ben Jaenke-Cain and first gamer Brodie Easton.
After four straight losses, Humphrey said the win would give his side invaluable confidence.
“We’ve got some young blokes in the side down on confidence and a game like that builds that,” he said.
It was a disappointing day for Sandgate and coach, Rob Dickfos, said it was reflective of the challenge his side faced in the run home.
“Every time we come up against a side we know how hard it’s going to be and with young players, that sometimes messes with your head.”
“We didn’t help ourselves, because we didn’t work as hard as them.”
A leg injury to Jackson Dickfos further soured the Hawks’ day, while Magpies captain, Lachlan Woods will have scans on an arm injury early this week.
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