Mt Gravatt 6.11.47 defeated by Sandgate 7.14.56
There has been something cooking at Sandgate across 2015, and now it’s being dished up.
Their win over Mt Gravatt yesterday takes them to three wins for the year, one game out of the five.
Conditions were very tricky at Dittmer Park, with a swirling breeze causing headaches all day.
It wasn’t high scoring, it wasn’t the prettiest game of football you will ever witness, but they grinded out another win.
Stackelberg and Rutledge kicked a couple of quick ones early for the Hawks to open their account, before Markham responded for the Vultures.
From there, both teams went goalless for 25 minutes of football.
Sandgate showed their prowess around the ball, as their contested work wore down a young Vultures team.
A goal a piece in the second saw Sandgate hold a three-point lead at the main break.
Sandgate’s inside 50 numbers skyrocketed in the second half, but they struggled to find their radar in front of goal.
Ben Beaven and Tom Overington were running amok through the guts, but by the end of the third, Sandgate had managed just the five goals from 17 scoring shots.
Still, they were 17-points up at the final change, with all the momentum in the game.
When Gribble kicked the first of the last, it put the Vultures a long way back.
Tronc and Jamieson proved they still had a heartbeat with two quick goals, but when Overington topped off his day out with a late one, it was curtains.
Well played, Hawks.
Coach’s thoughts
Brad Pollock – Mt Gravatt
“Once again the effort was there, but we made too many errors. When you make those errors you just give the opposition too many opportunities to score.
“We are pretty honest where we are at. We were down on personal today, and we are a very young team. It’s going to take a while to click, but we will keep working at it.”
Graham Adams – Sandgate
“We played well again today. I felt like we squandered a lot of opportunities, we missed some easy shots.
“Yet again, the effort was there, and it was a good all round performance, and it’s another step forward in earning that respect.
“I thought we were well and truly on top in the middle. Their defense did a good job, as ours did, and that’s why it was a low scoring game.”
Palm Beach Currumbin 8.13.61 defeated by Western Magpies 15.16.106
The Western Magpies have arrived.
They took a huge scalp yesterday when they took care of Palm Beach Currumbin away from home.
They set up the win in the first quarter. Kicking against a six-goal breeze, they restricted Palm Beach to 4.7, while kicking three themselves, leaving the Lions ruing missed opportunities.
The floodgates opened in the second.
The Magpies used the breeze beautifully to kick seven goals for the quarter, and go in at the main break six goals up.
If Palm Beach were going to drag themselves back into the contest, they would need a massive third quarter.
The size and strength of the Magpies was just too much for the young Lions team. They couldn’t find the goals they needed to give themselves a sniff before the last break.
Palm Beach won the quarter two goals to one, but it just wasn’t going to be enough.
It was the Magpies who kicked the last four of the game to cruise home 45-point winners.
The highlight of the game was two 16 year olds stealing the limelight, and playing football beyond their years.
Samuel Copeland had a breakout game for the Magpies, kicking four, and Sam Davidson was immense for the Lions all day.
As for the big names, Cal Carseldine must have brought his own footy yesterday, because he had a heap of it.
Most were a bit unsure what to think of the Magpies in 2015, I think they just cleared it up.
Welcome, Magpies.
Coach’s thoughts
Chad Owens – Palm Beach
“We lost the game in the first quarter. After that we were just chasing our tail.
“Their forwards got a heap of easy footy, they just had bigger bodies than us, even our forwards, when we looked up, their backs were just bigger.
“Sam Davidson was unbelievable, he was not intimidated, he just played a great game.
“Now we have got Morningside, so the task doesn’t get any bigger than that.”
Glen Humphrey – Western Magpies
“We held them well in the first quarter, they had a fairly strong breeze. We took hold of them in the second and split them open a little bit.
“Our use of the football was good and we were really good in close in the second quarter.
“That just proves that we can match it with any side on our day we just have to come switched on.”
UQ 14.16.100 defeated by Wilston Grange 15.15.165
There are two words that come to mind when describing yesterday’s game. Goal fest.
It was open, it was free flowing, and it was good to watch.
Wilston Grange’s big first half put them in a commanding position.
It was a blistering start for the Gorillas. Before you knew it, they had kicked four majors, including two to Declan Bevan.
Kurtis Norton-Neale stood up early for UQ, booting two quick ones, but from there it was all Wilston Grange.
When the quarter time siren rang, they had eight majors, and a lead of 31-points.
When the huddle broke, the Gorillas picked up where they left off.
Walder kick-started a four-goal run, before Milford steadied the ship for the Red Lions.
Wilston Grange was getting it done in the middle, using the footy well, and finding targets deep. They kicked nine for the quarter.
A late one to Curtis gave UQ a glimpse of hope, but from 10-goals down, they were going to have their work cut out.
To UQ’s credit, they came out of the sheds up and about.
They started to find the run they were searching for from the backline, and were finding multiple avenues to goal.
The Gorillas kicked the first four of the quarter, but a couple of late ones to Milford and Hannaford meant it was a pretty even quarter.
The Gorillas lead at the final change by 65, and it was job done.
They did what they had to do in the last, responding to every UQ goal, before running out 65-point winners.
Coach’s thoughts
Darren Pfeiffer – UQ
“First half we just leaked too many goals, and they were too easy.
“I think the ball movement that we showed was really good. We had one go down in the first five minutes and then we lost a tall five minutes into the third. With that happening it makes it tough.
“Our running ability was really good and we were able to play some good patches.
“It’s about finding that balance between attack and defense. We have got to defend first and then it’s all out attack, and that’s what we will be concentrating on the next few games.”
Matt Trewhella – Wilston Grange
“They had one ruckman and we had two, I thought our midfielders were able to get on top of theirs.
“We had a lot of senior guys not playing on the ball today for different reasons, and I thought the guys that stepped in were able to do a really good job.
“To be honest I was pretty disappointed with our last half. Even though they were playing well, I thought our effort levels was quite low, they were able to carry the ball from end to end with ease.”
Labrador 17.13.115 defeated Morningside 10.10.70
Today, Labrador did what teams have been trying to do for the last 25 games, Beat Morningside.
Labrador didn’t just get over the line in a close one, they dominated the Panthers.
They didn’t give any time or space to Morningside from the opening bounce today. They were ferocious in the middle, spread extremely well, set up with numbers behind the footy, and were smart inside 50.
Kicking with a breeze in the first, it was the Morningside skipper Josh Brown who led the way, kicking the first two of the day.
Morningside went into quarter time a kick in front, but you just felt it wasn’t enough of an advantage with the breeze they had.
The start of the second was ferocious. The pressure lifted a gear, and the Tigers started hunting in packs.
Morningside’s midfield didn’t have time to call a teammate’s name let alone get a clean disposal out.
They were forced to work in a phone box, while the Tigers seemed to have a lot more time and space.
Billy Hicks announced his QAFL arrival, while Josh Clarke was immense in the ruck.
They staked their claim as the team to beat in 2015 in a 15-minute burst that yielded seven goals, and put Morningside on the back foot for the first time in a long time.
At half time, the Tigers were 37-points up.
If Morningside were going to win this game, they had to make their move in the third.
It was Matt Daniel who drove a dagger into the hearts of Morningside fans. He kicked two early in the quarter to extend the lead of the Tigers, despite kicking into the wind.
The Tigers set up with two or three spares behind the footy all day. Their intercept marks set up the run and carry from the midfield, which saw them use the footy well when heading inside 50.
Josh Fraser kicked his forth late in the third to see them head into the final change 50-points up; the game was home and hosed.
Morningside won the last quarter, which was important, but the sting was out of the game.
Labrador was an eventual 44-point winner, achieving a feat many teams have attempted and failed at.
Morningside is a champion team, we know they will bounce back, and of course, premierships aren’t won in May, but season 2015 of the QAFL just heated up in a big way.
Coach’s thoughts
Steve Daniel – Labrador
“We played really well, our pressure was outstanding, which against top sides like Morningside it needs to be.
“Tactically today, first quarter we had a structure in place in case they kicked with the breeze, so that worked really well. In the second quarter we were able to open it up a bit and play the way we wanted to play.
“At the end of the day, they haven’t lost for a while, they lost, Lakey will be in their telling them to cop that and they move onto next week, it doesn’t change much.”
David Lake – Morningside
“We made some mistakes in how we handled some aspects, their pressure around the footy was pretty good.
“The best part was, at three quarter time, they said it is what it is and they tried to play, they didn’t go into their shells, they thought lets conjure something up let’s not just lie down.
“I think some of them realised there’s going to be some real competition which is good.
“Brisbane (Lions) never climbed their mountain the same way every time, and we’ve just been shown we need to find another route, and we need to get better at what we do.”
Broadbeach 8.10.58 defeated by Surfers Paradise 11.7.73
Both teams were desperate for a win to keep their season alive, so it was always going to be scrap for the four points.
It was Surfers Paradise who today claimed the local derby, notching up their second win for the year.
For three quarters, it was an absolute grind in close, but Surfers stayed in it for longer.
Goals to Nick Scott and Daniel Van De Werken meant that there was only one point in it at quarter time.
Both teams love the contested stuff, so it was tough in there.
Surfers two key forwards, McIntyre and Green chipped in for one each in the second to ever so slightly nudge away to a five-point lead at the main break.
With just five goals kicked in a half, the game could have gone either way.
Taylor Haley kicked the Cats’ first in the second half to give them the lead, but that’s when the Demons cranked it up.
They kicked the next three to give them a 14-point lead at the final change.
The area of the game Broadbeach have struggled with the most this year is their ball use.
Turnovers are costing them on the scoreboard, as it did again today in the last.
As the legs got heavier, the game opened up.
Tomlinson and Erickson bought the Cats within eight-points early in the forth, but Van De Werken was quick to put the nail in the coffin.
He kicked two of the Demons next four to ice the game, and give Surfers the four points.
They are playing with confidence now, the Demons, and might cause the odd upset of two as the year progresses.
Coach’s thoughts
Wayne Petterd – Broadbeach
“We are just really struggling at the moment.
“Our turnovers are just killing us, take nothing away from them, they were good, but we just turned it over way to much.”
“We came up against a team today that were just more enthusiastic.”
Peter Young – Surfers Paradise
“When we spoke to the players before the game we wanted to win every quarter. We won four quarters of footy so that’s rewarding for them.
“There was some real pressure early, and the win caused some problems, but in the third quarter we took some control.
“In the last quarter, Broadbeach was getting on top early, but the boys showed some character and got back on top.
“It keeps us in the hunt.”
By Andrew Wiles – @andrewjwiles
