A brilliant last quarter that featured 14 goals between the two sides in front about 5000 people saw Morningside come out on top.
Saturday 26 June 2010
Morningside repelled a stunning Broadbeach final quarter onslaught in front of a bigger crowd than the grand final to entrench themselves in the QAFL top three today.
With Merrimac Oval bulging at the seams with close to 5000 spectators for the Gold Coast VFL game, the vast majority became Cats supporters for the last term of the curtain-raiser as Broadbeach made an amazing run at the reigning premiers.
The home side led by three points at halftime but trailed by 31 at the last break, with the game seemingly out of reach.
But with Adam McKenzie giving his side a huge midfield lit, Dayne Zorko and Nathan Ablett booting two goals each and Jesse Derrick and Matt Fife running rampant, the Cats booted six goals straight in 12 minutes to steal and unlikely lead, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Enter Jacob Gough.
Having dominated the ruck all day, Gough imposed his will even further on the fixture and completely turned the momentum.
He gave an armchair ride to his smaller players with Mark Rootsey and Tyson Upton regaining control of the midfield, Austin Lucy running amok as he so often does in the last quarter of a game, and Shaun Mugavin offering a reliable target up forward.
The result was six unanswered goals in 12 minutes of their own, and seven in succession before the Cats got a consolation goal in the dying minutes.
Broadbeach conceded some costly penalties with poor discipline as the game began to unravel for them.
The 14-goal final term lasted 35 minutes and when the dust settled the Panthers had registered a 20.13 (133) to 16.6 (102) victory.
It sent Morningside three games clear of their nearest pursuer below, although the NT Thunder were still to play tonight.
Morningside’s performance was all the more admirable considering they lost gun midfielder Ryan Holman and Grogan Medallist Nathan Kinch during the week, robbing them of even more ballwinning ability.
Gough, who six weeks earlier had produced a similarly gargantuan performance pull a win from the fire at Labrador, was supreme in the ruck and around the ground.
Defending Nic Tomlinson was outstanding in a back pocket and hurt the Cats with two goals running right up the ground.
Mugavin’s four-goal haul was his best effort in a month and came when needed most by his side.
The game heralded the return of tall defender Jarrod Price and he was solid, as was Aaron Rogers.
Derrick kept his side in the contest with a hard-running display off half-back, while Fife was a typically prolific kick-winner and Josh Searl again provided plenty of drive.
Key forward Michael Cooke enjoyed a purple patch in the second term when he contributed three of the Cats’ six goals as they booted to the lead having generated just two scoring shots to seven in the opening term.
