By Ant Wingard
An opening half blitz paved the way for Aspley’s QWFA Division 1 Premiership win at Yeronga yesterday, as the Hornets withstood a gallant Coorparoo comeback.
The Hornets started the game as the far better side and asserted their dominance on the scoreboard, managing to hold off the Kings in the second half to produce the day’s smallest margin of 4.1 (25) to 3.5 (23)
Led by spirited midfielder Kylie Guarino, who earned Best On Ground honours in the game, Aspley place the exclamation mark on a successful 2018 campaign where the side suffered just one defeat throughout the season.
The opening minutes of the game were tense, influenced by the continual rain which hampered the space either side were afforded. Neither team could find an edge on the scoreboard in the tough conditions, despite both have ample opportunity to do so.
The Hornets soon worked their way in front around the stoppages and produced several clearances that gave their forwards more opportunity to draw first blood. It was QWFA Division 1 leading goal kicker, Chloe Macdonald, who finally kicked the game’s first major – the only goal of the opening term.
Maxine Timms and Sarah Madden fired home further goals for the Hornets early in first before Shaye Easton’s snap ensured the brown and gold would head to half time with a 21-point lead.
Coorparoo finally added their first major of the game six minutes into the premiership stanza through spearhead Meg Pullinger. A half time regrouping had obviously worked wonders for the Kings who took full control of the game in the third quarter. But with the momentum firmly shifted in the Kings’ favour, Coorparoo mounted a number of scoring opportunities but could only muster a handful of behinds. It wasn’t until Che Kimber broke the Kings’ run of two behinds with a goal of her own to cull the deficit to just seven points at the final break.
A tense final quarter was set up and it was Coorparoo who again proved to be the better side in the second half as Meg Muir pounced on an opportunity in just the third minute of play. With the margin now teetering at just two points, the Premiership was genuinely up for grabs for either the Hornets or Kings. Coorparoo spearhead Meg Pullinger was forced to work further up the ground to influence general play, but the move meant the Kings were without a genuine target inside 50.
Hornets defender Lucy Thompson cut off numerous Kings scoring opportunities with several intercept marks throughout the game, but none were bigger than her efforts in the fourth quarter as Aspley ran out Premiers by the slimmest of margins.
