Southport remain the Queens of the Gold Coast in the Bond University QAFLW following a 28-point Round 4 victory over Bond University.
The Sharks took the lead in the fifth minute of the match and were never headed as they posted their highest ever score against the Bull Sharks and extended their winning streak to 17.
Maddy Watt was outstanding at the bottom of the contest in setting a new competition record for effective handballs (23) and recording a game-high 11 tackles.
Many of Watt’s handballs found Steph O’Brien (22 effective disposals, 10 tackles, 6 inside-50s) on the charge through Bond’s defence while Tayla Gregory produced a ruck performance for the ages in not only dominating the restarts (32 hit-outs) but regularly finding teammates with long kicks over the defence (26 effective disposals).
Shannon Nolan (22 effective disposals, 26 contested possessions, 8 tackles) gave the Bull Sharks as much forward momentum as any team has had against Southport over the last year while captain Grace Moodie (3 intercept marks, 14 effective disposals at 100%) regularly turned the Sharks around.
Stand-in skipper O’Brien opened the scoring after four minutes when the Sharks forwards forced a turnover in front of goal. Seven minutes later, a tackle and diving handball from former captain Hannah Davies allowed debutante Keely Whittaker to find the goals with a 40-metre bomb.
Early in the second term, Bond’s Keely Blattman continued a long tradition of amazing goals in front of the Canal clubhouse when she chased a kick from Bella Iverach into the right forward pocket and snapped through the big sticks just before going out of bounds.
The Bull Sharks dominated the next ten minutes of play without advancing their score. Southport’s reward for absorbing that pressure was two goals in two minutes, the first to O’Brien after a tackle from the impressive Tyla Crabtree had jolted the ball loose, the second when one of Gregory’s long kicks gave the speedy Holly Wall a clear run to become the second Shark to score on state league debut.
Southport began the third quarter by conceding a behind after 17 seconds but turning that into a coast-to-coast goal to Emma Suckling 40 seconds later following some clever stepping from fellow winger Abbie Pluples at halfback.
Abbey Bevan kept the Bull Sharks in the contest with a third quarter hat-trick, two goals from set shots and one when running onto turnover ball. The problem for Bond was that Southport also scored another three goals through Olivia Meagher, Whittaker and Gregory.
Trinity Ella gave Bond some hope with a set-shot goal midway through the final term, but Gregory had the final say after marking in the goalsquare from a Kierra Zerafa free kick.
Southport’s 17-match winning streak is the second longest in recorded Bond University QAFLW history, trailing only Yeronga’s 27 consecutive wins which began in the 2011 Preliminary Final and ended with a two-point Grand Final loss two years later.
In other Round 4 matches, Aspley secured its first win of the year with a 60-point result over Maroochydore, Coorparoo put 11 goals past Moreton Bay, Morningside maintained its perfect record with a dominant first half against UQ, and Wilston Grange recorded its highest score for seven years in defeating Yeronga.
Saturday 3 May 2025, 4:45pm at Bond University Oval, Robina
BOND UNIVERSITY 0.1 (1) 1.1 (7) 4.3 (27) 5.3 (33)
SOUTHPORT 2.1 (13) 4.5 (29) 8.6 (54) 9.7 (61)
Replay and match statistics.
Bond University
Goals: Abbey Bevan 3, Kendra Blattman, Trinity Ella
Best: Shannon Nolan, Georgia Johnson, Jasmyn Davidson, Bella Iverach, Trinity Ella, Evy Reeves
Southport
Goals: Steph O’Brien 2, Keely Whittaker 2, Tayla Gregory 2, Holly Wall, Emma Suckling, Olivia Meagher
Best: Steph O'Brien, Tayla Gregory, Megan Hunt, Kierra Zerafa, Tearnie Brown, Maddy Watt
Saturday 3 May 2025, 2pm at Neil Upton Oval, Maroochydore
MAROOCHYDORE 0.1 (1) 0.3 (3) 1.4 (10) 1.4 (10)
ASPLEY 2.2 (14) 5.3 (33) 8.4 (52) 11.4 (70)
Replay and match statistics.
Maroochydore
Goals: Amy Bissett
Best: Lucy Massie, Abbey Tognazzini, Axel Oswald, Lataya De Pauw, Billie Missen, Abi Boutchard
Aspley
Goals: Lucy Thompson 2, Katie Day 2, Rachael Vetter 2, Maddi Tallis, Lilu Hung, Jess Stallard, Maddy Kawa, Olivia Hunt
Best: Lilu Hung, Anna van de Wiel, Katie Day, Jasmine Kawa, Jesse McMillan, Holly O’Flaherty
Saturday 3 May 2025, 2pm at Giffin Park, Coorparoo
COORPAROO 2.0 (12) 6.2 (38) 11.5 (71) 11.7 (73)
MORETON BAY 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0)
Replay and match statistics.
Coorparoo
Goals: Chelsea Chesterfield 3, Jenae Govan 2, Kaitlyn Zelinski, Lucy Schneider, Grace Roberts-White, Charlotte Millen, Madi Goodwin, Lyla Harrison
Best: Emily Harding, Madi Goodwin, Mia Teubler, Abi Lunson, Kaitlyn Zelinski, Rose Clancy-Dillon
Moreton Bay
Goals: nil
Best: Grace Pearson-Smith, Charis Tarr, Kiah Thompson, Tahlia Benson, Ruby Humphreys, Mahalia Johnson
Saturday 3 May 2025, 3:45pm at Base Architecture Meadows, St Lucia
UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND 0.0 (0) 1.1 (7) 1.1 (7) 2.1 (13)
MORNINGSIDE 3.1 (19) 6.2 (38) 6.3 (39) 6.5 (41)
Replay and match statistics.
University of Queensland
Goals: Elka Barnett 2
Best: Coco Garton, Eva Sartor, Samantha Snowden, Harriet Knijff, Elka Barnett, Josii Hargreaves
Morningside
Goals: Emma McNaughton 2, Courtney McDonell, Issy Levine, Laura Roy, Simone Arthur
Best: Laura Roy, Georgia Hewett, Lucy McCormick, Simone Arthur, Gracie Roy, Issy Levine
Saturday 3 May 2025, 4:45pm at Hickey Park, Stafford
WILSTON GRANGE 4.2 (26) 7.8 (48) 9.9 (63) 14.11 (95)
YERONGA SOUTH BRISBANE 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0)
Replay and match statistics.
Wilston Grange
Goals: Taneka Dhadlie 5, Naomi Celebre 3, Tshinta Kendall 2, Annie Wallace, Siobhan Senior, Jasmine Ware, Kadie Fletcher
Best: Naomi Celebre, Taneka Dhadlie, Ella Smith, Siobhan Senior, Summer Hamilton, Kylie Welsh
Yeronga South Brisbane
Goals: nil
Best: Clancey Sutton, Eliza Haigh, Charlie Hellier, Melody McHugh, Thyra Tavil, Jemimah Smith