Coorparoo 2.3.15 defeated by UQ 6.13.49
When you asked me Friday who my tip was for this game, it was Coorparoo. They’ve been excellent over the last month and everyone loves a good upset. But UQ came out of the blocks firing and were determined to sing their song on Saturday night. There wasn’t a huge gap between the two, but UQ maintained a steady lead for the match and never let Coorparoo within sight of an upset. For UQ, Breanna Koenan played at her best, along with Megan Hunt and young gun Alanna Perry. The Red Lionesses will be looking to tidy up their goal kicking in front of the big sticks, as this has the potential to hurt them come finals. Coorparoo continue to develop confidence and trust within their new side week in, week out which is a positive as the season draws to a close.
Final Score: Coorparoo 0.1, 0.2, 1.3, 2.3, (15)
UQ 1.5, 3.9, 5.11, 6.13 (49)
Goals: Coorparoo E. Gielnik, J. Govan
UQ E. Pericic 3, M. Hunt, C. Wharton, B. Koenen
Best: Coorparoo C. Davis, E. Gibson , K. Deegan, E. Gielnik, B. Spence, A. Henderson
UQ T. Joyce, B. Koenen, A. Perry, A. Mason, M. Hunt, E. Pericic
Ladder Review: Coorparoo 5th (1 Win), UQ 3rd (8 Wins)
Coolangatta 14.17.101 defeated Wilston Grange 3.5.23
It was vintage Cooly on Saturday afternoon, with the bluebirds maintaining their reputation for being hungry and aggressive, yet calm and collected. It was a close contest in the first quarter, with only inaccuracy in front the goals separating the two sides. But Cooly kicked away in the second, giving themselves a handy lead going into the second half. Cooly were clean by foot, and clever with their ball movement. Wilston Grange knew it was going to be a tough game, but couldn’t work their way back into it, with Cooly bridging the gap even further after half time. Laura James was extremely influential on the match, taking every opportunity when at the goals and creating havoc for Grange defenders.
Final Score: Coolangatta 1.5, 5.10, 9.11, 14.17 (101)
Wilston Grange 1.0, 1.1, 2.2, 3.5 (23)
Goals: Coolangatta A. Clarke 4, K. Howarth 3, L. James 3, S. Adams 3, C. Rawnson
Wilston Grange K. McGlade, T. Randall, A. Pittendreigh
Best: Coolangatta A. Clarke, J. Stanton, K. Howarth, L. James, M. Roberts, N. Iriks
Wilston Grange T. Randall, K. McGlade, G. Mooney, M. Cubis, M. Sagaukaz, C. Daniec
Ladder Review: Coolangatta 1st (9 Wins), Wilston Grange 6th (1 Win)
Coach’s Thoughts:
Marcus MacDonald-Camden
“We knew that it was going to be a very tough game from the beginning.”
“When they got around us, they kept it classy and simple and hit their targets.”
“We tried to put our heads down, bums up and make it as contested as possible but Cooly’s credit they played really well.”
Zillmere 10.2.62 defeated by Yeronga 13.2.80
Zillmere were ready for this match, ready to pull off the win they’ve worked so hard to achieve. They fought hard, and stunned early, taking a one goal lead into the first break. But Yeronga hit back, kicking six goals, slowing down the Eagles. They backed up their second quarter piling on another six, with Zillmere being just too far back in the final quarter to snatch the win. The Eagles have come agonisingly close to beating the top three teams several times this year, but struggle to get over the line. Jade Ransfield was on fire up forward for Yeronga, piling on seven goals. With Tayla Harris working her magic at the opposite end, kicking six for Zillmere.
Final Score: Zillmere 2.2, 3.2, 6.2, 10.2 (62)
Yeronga 1.1, 7.1, 12.2, 13.2 (80)
Goals: Zillmere T. Harris 6, M. Pullinger 2, P. Parker, A. Anderson
Yeronga J. Ransfield 7, J. Vandyk 2, S. Virgo, J. Watts, D. Leach, C. Collins
Best: Zillmere T. Harris , K. Riley, A. Anderson, L. Thompson, N. Clark, K. Hudson
Yeronga J. Ransfield, E. Bates, K. McCarthy, S. Virgo, S. Puruntatameri, R. Winterbottom
Ladder Review: Zillmere 4th (5 Wins), Yeronga 2nd (9 Wins)
Coach’s Thoughts:
Jacob Simmons-Bliss, Zillmere
“We started really well, taking the lead at quarter time. Every game for us, bar one, has been really competitive.”
“We’re really pleased with our ability to compete at this level, with such a young list.”
“We know that we’re good enough, so we could very much find ourselves playing for a premiership if we can maintain our performances going into the back half of the season.
“We were disappointed that we let them kick ten goals in the second and third quarter, which we feel if we stopped that from happening we would have won the game.”
3 Things We Learnt:
- Leading goal kicker race heating up
Coolangatta’s young forward, Kalinda Howarth is only just holding on to her lead for goal kicking in the QWAFL, with a current tally of 22. Tayla Harris’ half dozen on the weekend sees her push to within one goal, with the star forward a big chance to take home the title. Jade Ransfield from Yeronga is not far behind, on 18 for the season, with the agile forward booting seven goals against the Eagles on Saturday. Ransfield is just behind teammate Hayley Newberry, who sits on 19 goals for the season. I’m tipping Tayla Harris to take this award home at the of 2016, with the talented forward no doubt eager to build some good form as the National Women’s Competition is just around the corner.
- Coolangatta took one big step closer to the top spot
A comprehensive 78-point victory over the Gorillas sees the Bluebirds increase last week’s three percent lead over rivals, Yeronga, to a 38 percent lead. There is still is five weeks remaining of the regular season, but a whopping percentage in Saturday’s match, in what’s been a very tight and even competition this year, will go very far to securing that top spot. Yeronga will need to pull off some big wins to have any chance at stealing it back. With Coolangatta, facing the Gorillas again next week, they will be looking to replicate the goal-scoring affair, and well and truly lock down their spot at the top.
- Zillmere’s close game jitters
It’s been repetitive scenarios of ‘close, but not close enough’ for Zillmere this year. Out of their 11 matches this season, they’ve played one horrible game, where they were demolished by Yeronga, but, less than twenty points have decided nearly every other match this year, besides the games they have won. They are capable of beating any side, they have some extremely talented players but it’s a matter of consistently playing full four quarters of footy. If Zillmere had beaten the three teams above them at least once, we would potentially have a three-way tie at the top. They’ve been close, they’ve almost smelt the victory but they just haven’t been able to get across the line. However, they are confident that come finals time, they can cause an upset. Anything can happen in September, but can it happen for Zillmere? We’ll soon see.
By Jess Stewart
