by Daniel Viles
Eight Is Not Enough for Steamrolling Sharks
Southport stormed to an eighth consecutive victory in the Bond University QAFLW with a 54-point victory over University of Queensland at Base Architecture Meadows on Saturday evening.
The hard-running and relentless pressure of the Sharks yielded three goals before quarter-time as they kept the Red Lionesses pinned inside their defensive zone for long periods through the match.
Maddy Watt produced a virtuosic ball-winning midfield performance with 24 contested possessions, the most in a match by any player in this year’s Bond University QAFLW, 24 effective disposals, 13 tackles and seven clearances.
Kaylee Kimber cleaned up most of what got past Watt with five intercept marks and a string of pressure acts that displayed her acute positional sense.
UQ’s defensive structures stood up under pressure at least as well as any other team against Southport over the last two months. Key defender Lucy McCormick forced Southport to change its point of attack on several occasions, her eight tackles and three intercept marks barely doing justice to her role in holding out the Sharks.
Fullback Jessi Henning would have wanted a better result in her hundredth match but the three-time Team of the Year representative is showing signs that her best form isn’t far away; her five spoils were the most in a match for any player in this year’s Bond University QAFLW.
No team in the state league begins matches better than the Sharks and they again had their first goal in the opening minute after Maddy Baldwin marked on the lead from a Watt free kick.
Eight minutes later, Southport still hadn’t conceded an inside-50 when Maighan Fogas cleverly tapped a ballooned handball into the space behind the defenders and then shot straight from 35 metres.
UQ were good enough to turn the game into a close contested battle over the next few minutes but undid their work by running through the mark on a Ruby Mitchell free kick and gift-wrapping an easy set shot for the former Tasmanian.
The best passage of play for the Students was from the ball-up to begin the second quarter when Gabi Simpson charged out of the centre circle and pumped the ball deep. Handballs from Ashleigh Moyle and Bridey Condren gave Lauren Middleton enough space to find the posts.
Perhaps the only downside of the goal was that it highlighted Simpson’s absence after half-time. A delay to the match start caused by a medical emergency in an earlier game allowed Simpson only two quarters before being unveiled that evening as Netball Queensland’s Diamond Spirit ambassador.
The ability of Southport to lock the ball inside forward 50 for long stretches yielded two goals in the middle of the quarter. Captain Rianna Schipp scored the first after running onto a Tayla Gregory handball that had been produced from inside a smother tackle.
From the restart, Kierra Zerafa sent one of her eight clearances to Scarlett Featherstone at centre half-forward. Her kick to the goal square saw Steph O’Brien hold front position against Henning before marking while leaping backwards. The goal itself was almost anticlimactic.
The western end of Base Architecture Meadows saw most of the action in the third term as Southport’s forwards were unable to break UQ’s defensive structure but forced them into hurried clearances that were easily picked off by their defenders. The dam broke halfway through the quarter when Baldwin marked unopposed from Fogas and scored her second set shot goal.
Maddy Rasmussen extended the lead four minutes before the final break when Megan Hunt decided not to try for her 100th state league goal with a fifty-metre set shot and instead found Rasmussen’s clever run into space.
Southport maintained its consistent rate of goal scoring throughout the match with two final term goals: a maiden Bond University QAFLW goal for Alicia Gordon with a confident set shot on a narrow angle after marking from Abbie Pluples; and a third for Baldwin when she rescued a shot from Zerafa that inexplicably turned at right angles in the goal square.
All four matches in Round 11 finished with a top four defeating a bottom four side, but none were achieved easily. Bond University could only put three goals past a tenacious Wilston Grange; five goals in the final quarter made Aspley’s win over Maroochydore look a lot simpler than it was; and Yeronga gave its traditional rivals Coorparoo an almighty scare before the Kings pulled away late.
Saturday 6 July 2024, 3:45pm at Base Architecture Meadows, St Lucia
UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND 0.1 (1) 1.2 (8) 1.2 (8) 1.2 (8)
SOUTHPORT 3.0 (18) 5.3 (33) 7.4 (46) 9.8 (62)
Replay and match statistics
University of Queensland
Goals: Lauren Middleton
Best: Lara Mason, Lucy McCormick, Lauren Middleton, Coco Garton, Jane Childes, Jessi Henning
Southport
Goals: Maddy Baldwin 3, Maighan Fogas, Ruby Mitchell, Rianna Schipp, Steph O’Brien, Maddy Rasmussen, Alicia Gordon
Best: Maddy Watt, Kaylee Kimber, Steph O’Brien, Megan Hunt, Maighan Fogas, Maddy Baldwin
Saturday 6 July 2024, 2pm at Bond University Oval, Robina
BOND UNIVERSITY 1.3 (9) 1.6 (12) 3.8 (26) 3.8 (26)
WILSTON GRANGE 1.1 (7) 1.2 (8) 1.2 (8) 1.3 (9)
Replay and match statistics
Bond University
Goals: Bella Davies, Leah Kaslar, Izzy Lowe
Best: CJ Landwehr, Tahlia Meyer, Charlotte Taylor, Maisy Evans, Grace Moodie, Shannon Nolan
Wilston Grange
Goals: Kylie Welsh
Best: Keyshia Matenga, Grace O’Donnell, Hayley Finning, Gemma Donataccio, Haley Jones, Annie Wallace
Saturday 6 July 2024, 4:45pm at Zupps Aspley Oval, Carseldine
ASPLEY 2.2 (14) 2.4 (16) 3.5 (23) 8.5 (54)
MAROOCHYDORE 1.0 (6) 1.1 (7) 2.2 (14) 2.3 (15)
Replay and match statistics
Aspley
Goals: Lucia Liessi 2, Jess Stallard 2, Drew Barnes, Jasmine Kawa, Emma McNaughton, Louise Tyson
Best: Lucia Liessi, Louise Tyson, Rachael Anstey, Emma McNaughton, Courtney Daniec, Lucy Pengelly
Maroochydore
Goals: Ellen Hopkins 2
Best: Axel Oswald, Jesse McMillan, Orla Crowley, Hayley Edgar, Rose Hughes, Ellen Hopkins
Saturday 6 July 2024, 4:45pm at Leyshon Park, Yeronga
YERONGA SOUTH BRISBANE 2.0 (12) 2.0 (12) 4.0 (24) 4.0 (24)
COORPAROO 0.0 (0) 3.1 (19) 4.1 (25) 7.4 (46)
Replay and match statistics
Yeronga South Brisbane
Goals: Lucy Bellinger 2, Chelsea Winn 2
Best: Peppa Poultney, Chelsea Winn, Jamie Howell, Kathleen Mallyon, Georgia Hewett, Lizzie Hill
Coorparoo
Goals: Jenae Govan 3, Emma Zielke 2, Kate Deegan, Meg Muir
Best: Jess Watts, Emily Bleney, Jenae Govan, Meg Muir, Kate Deegan, Alana Mitchell
Table: Aspley 40, Southport 36, Bond University 32, Coorparoo 24,
Maroochydore 16, Wilston Grange 16, University of Queensland 12, Yeronga South Brisbane 0.
Find all your information about the Bond University QAFLW at the Competition Hub.
