Southport showed no ill effects from a tough rough trip to Darwin last week by overpowering Mt Gravatt by 49 points at Dittmer Park this afternoon.
Saturday 5 June 2010
Southport showed no ill effects from a tough rough trip to Darwin last week by overpowering Mt Gravatt by 49 points at Dittmer Park this afternoon.
A dynamic midfield led by Danny Wise and Darren Pfeiffer coupled with a brilliant effort by full-forward Cleve Hughes powered the Sharks to a commanding 19.15 (129) to 11.14 (80) victory.
Wise, a strong contender for captaincy of the Queensland team to play Tasmania next Saturday, was in stunning form and the Vultures could not stop his rampant display.
Former Carlton player Pfeiffer has got better with each game and also produced an elite performance, while Hughes proved a handful for Adam Tarrant.
Tarrant has been in outstanding form and held Hughes to 2.4 in the first half, before the big Shark booted five straight in the second.
“We have always had problems against Adam Tarrant, so Cleve’s effort against such a quality opponent made it his best effort for the club so far,” said Sharks coach Craig Crowley.
Having lost to the NT Thunder in humid conditions in Darwin last Saturday night, Southport’s preparation for this week was first class as they got better as the game wore on.
They led by just five points at the first change and had generated 17 scoring shots to 10 at the long break but led by just two goals.
“We didn’t kick to the top the square in the first quarter and they rushed four behinds and the other misses were from fair distances,” Crowley said of the first half.
Mt Gravatt were kept in the game largely through the midfield work of Rory Lake and finishing of Nathan Gilliland, who booted four of their six goals to halftime.
With key forwards Shane Morrison and Billy Cleary missing, it was left to Ethan Reading and Gilliland to contribute goals against the miserly Sharks defence.
Crowley eventually relented from his side’s all-out attacking policy to tag Gilliland with Adam Devine in the second half, and the Vulture went goalless from there.
Mt Gravatt had problems before the game began with Tom Tarrant a late withdrawal with a quad problem, compounding their height problems, although Southport went in without the in-form David James, David Lynch and Dane Carmody.
Jake Furfaro did a manful job for the Vultures in defence to continue his consistently good season, Ash Evans was prominent in his first senior game back from a knee reconstruction although his limited fitness showed late, and Dean Page did some good things.
David Hill won the majority of ruck knocks against Dean Putt, although the Shark collected close to 25 possessions with his strong work around the ground.
Lake never stopped trying for the Vultures but the class of the Sharks onball brigade proved overwhelming.
They also received five goals from silky forward Cameron Maclaren and Glenn Screech was excellent with his run off half-back.
