By Chris “Yeendy” Yeend
REDLAND Victoria Point has secured its place in the 2023 QAFL Senior Men’s Grand Final after a remarkable 53-point win over Wilston Grange at home on Saturday.
The victory was made even more sweeter when Matt Hammelmann kicked his 100th of the season deep into time-on during the third term to launch the Sharks into a prominent position to secure victory.
ASPLEY extracted revenge from its 2022 Preliminary Final loss to Palm Beach Currumbin with an impressive 31-point win against the same team to advance to the 2023 Reserves Grand Final.
PRELIMINARY final day started in dramatic fashion with Palm Beach Currumbin defeating Broadbeach by just four-points to secure its ticket in the Colts Grand Final against Maroochydore.
SENIORS
REDLAND VICTORIA POINT 16.9.105 defeated WILSTON GRANGE 7.10.52
RVP went into the contest on the back of a disappointing loss to Aspley in the Second Semi Final.
It went into the game with an unchanged line-up; confident that it would be the starting 22 that would help lead it one step closer to the promise land.
Wilston Grange was forced to make two changes with Bailey Gordon and Dan Lanthois coming out of the team with injuries while Hunter Osborne and Jess Budarick slotted straight back in.
The Gorillas started the game in perfect touch with Semi Final hero and promising young talent Jake Fazldeen kicking the opening goal nine-minutes into the contest. Jake found himself on the end of a beautiful pass after a Josh Brown miss had the Gorillas launch into the corridor; catching their opponents off guard and the young star converting nicely.
Will Martyn responded shortly after for the Gorillas after receiving a lovely pass from Lachlan Rhook on the wing. Martyn converted from 45-metres out on a tight angle to open up a 13-point lead for the visiting team.
RVP responded in quick fashion with three goals in 12-minutes to hit the front; the last goal of the quarter being the first of seven for spearhead Matt Hammelmann. RVP led the opening quarter by five-points.
With RVP enjoying some solid momentum, Derksen made a point of leading the way for the Gorillas with a goal inside the first minute of the second term to restore the lead by a single point.
Two goals in quick succession for the Sharks; the second on the back of a clinical snap around the body by Josh Brown from 30 metres out, opened up an 11-point lead in a blink of an eye; and a stunning run of five of six goals in quick succession either side of quarter-time.
RVP had some crucial chances in front of goal late in the quarter and extended the lead to 25-points with Hammelmann asserting his dominance up forward with some important goals.
A late surge inside the forward 50 had Billy Richardson mark strongly 30 metres out from goal for the Gorillas.
The half-time siren sounded as tensions boiled over between the two teams. Richardson received a 50-metre penalty and kicked from point blank range while others went toe-to-toe around him as the margin closed to 19-points at the main break.
Both teams traded goals in the third term before Hammelmann became the man of the moment when he received a free kick at close range for a hold on the back of a thumping kick inside 50. Hammelmann converted at the 28.5-minute mark for goal 100 and the lead surged back to four goals.
When Jarrod Huddy kicked truly moments later from the re-start, the margin ballooned out to a game-high lead five-goals heading into the final term.
Both teams missed crucial chances in the final term. Centurion Matt Hammelmann delivered a telling blow when he marked on the lead 30-metres out from goal at the 13-minute mark of the quarter. He kicked truly and the margin pushed out to 36-points and put the Sharks on the march to a Grand Final.
Dean Benson put the icing on the cake with a converted shot on goal from a free kick in the shadows of the game as the Sharks celebrated a 53-point win.
For RVP – Brock Aston was outstanding with 38 touches including 18 contested possessions, 10 clearances, seven tackles and eight inside 50s; Matt Hammelmann kicked 7.0 from 13 kicks, 19 marks and four marks inside 50; Will Johnson had a game-high and personal season-high 14 marks to go with 23 touches while Jarrod Huddy had 19 hit-outs and kicked 2.0.
For Wilston Grange – Will Martyn tried hard with 22 touches, 10 marks, laid four tackles, had five clearances, seven inside 50s and a goal; Hugh Fidler had 22 touches, laid seven tackles and had four clearances; while Kailem Baker had 21 touches and nine marks.
RVP dominated the disposal count with 366 to 235 (+131), had 60 inside 50s to 41 (+19), laid 61 tackles to 37 (+24) and won the clearances 40 to 21 (+19)
Photo credit Matt Whelan.
