Photo: Kieron Turner
Surfers Paradise and Morningside were too strong for their semi-final opponents and have set up a day of season-defining Preliminary Finals next Saturday.
Surfers bounced back from last week’s agonising loss at Redland Victoria-Point to in the end record a comfortable 47-point victory over Gold Coast rivals Labrador at Sir Bruce Small Park (Kallibr Homes Oval) 15.13.(103) to 8.8.(56)
An even first quarter under cloudy skies with a swirly wind found goals hard to come by before man of the match Ben Woodburn broke the drought at the 22-minute mark.
The Tigers Mackenzie Bristow responded moments later with his team’s first before Demons skipper Harrison Fraser edged his side in front at the first change.
Labrador led by key midfielder Luke Coombes, who kicked the first two goals of the second quarter, appeared to be a vastly different outfit that had been roundly beaten by Surfers in their two previous clashes this season.
However, that all changed later in the term when the Demons were sparked into action and kicked the last three goals before half-time including Fraser again on the siren and went into the break with momentum and a 16-point buffer.
The home team continued in the third with two goals in the first 10 minutes and the lead was over five goals, but Labrador fought back late in the quarter with majors to William Manshanden and Bradley Uglow to haul the Tigers back into the contest.
Again, Surfers asserted their superiority booting the first three goals of the final quarter including Cam Ellis-Yolmen’s second to go with his 32 possessions and eight clearances and Laurence King with his third goal. Luke Coombes responded with his third and Marcus Khoo opened his account for the Tigers. Usual forward Aiden Fyfe was deployed further up the ground for most of the match but was moved forward to add extra bite and finally found his way onto the scoreboard.
The Demons had all the answers and fittingly Woodburn kicked the sealer and his second from his 30 disposals and 13 clearances. Joe Kennnedy added two late goals to see the Demons over the century and into next week’s Preliminary Final against another Gold Coast rival in Palm Beach-Currumbin.
While Woodburn received all the plaudits a lot of the credit has to go to the Surfers defence who stifled many of the Tiger’s attacks into the forward line. William Broadbent started things off at full-back, Michael Luxton and Axel Moore with their ferocious tackling along with Alby Jones. Zai Millane returned from injury to play his fourth game of the season while Hamish Anderson and Harrison Ireland were instrumental in turning defence into attack.
Zac Smith was his usual dominant self in the ruck (35 hit outs) and was intent with his height advantage to grab the ball first and feed his running midfield. Hugh Greenwood a welcome return to the side with 13 clearances and 10 tackles while veteran Matt Doran (27 disposals) was the ever-reliable cool head in any crisis.
Labrador tried hard but just lacked that killer punch when required and aside from their best player in Coombes (25 disposals), Tom Miller (26), co-captain Rhys Nicholls and Christian Webster were stoic in defence. Charlie Rowe, Bailey Brown in patches and Cade Gregory tried hard but overall, the Tigers were unable to find more avenues to goal.
Coach Chris Rourke was naturally disappointed afterwards as he thought his side would run out the game a bit better but praised his side for reaching this far after at times an unsettled year.
Morningside won through to next week by consigning Aspley to another ‘straight sets’ final exit with a hard-fought 22-point victory away at Graham Road 13.6.(84) to 9.8.(62).
Similar to last week it was tight early, then the match clicked up a gear in the second term when the Panthers added four unanswered goals to lead by 17 points. Not to be outdone Aspley responded with three in a row to force another lead change before the Panthers Zane Pearce ensured a narrow half-time margin converting a set shot just before the siren.
Aspley kicked two of the first three goals after the main break with spearhead Connor Stackelberg’s second and a third to Nicholas Dodge to nose back in front. Momentum changed again when Panthers goalkicking ‘hyphens’ Preston Cockatoo-Collins and Darcy Cameron-Reeves slotted the last two goals of the quarter and the scene was set for a thrilling last term with the visitors in front by nine points.
Morningside know about winning in September and did all the attacking in the final term and following two behinds kicked two quick goals. Cockatoo-Collins despite being tackled handballed to Shaq McLeod running into a vacant goal square then McLeod pounced again when Aspley were trapped in defence. They tried to switch play across the backline when Shaq intercepted and ran into the open goal for his third and the margin had ballooned to 23 points.
It was a stalemate for the next 15 minutes as Aspley were unable to find a breakthrough. The reigning premiers clinched the victory when at the 24-minute mark Kai Purslow was rewarded for a strong tackle, played on from outside 50 and the left-footer kicked the sealer.
Morningside will take the next step in defending the title when they visit Redland Victoria-Point next Saturday.
Connor Stackelberg was able to finish his successful season in front of the big sticks for the Hornets with a consolation goal late in the term to take his tally to 89 for the year.
Aspley have been within reach two years in succession and will be bitterly disappointed in coming so close with no reward and no finals celebrations. They are a proud club with enough talent across the board and will be working on ways of taking the next step during the off season.
Therefore, the Preliminary Finals to be decided next Saturday:
Palm Beach-Currumbin v Surfers Paradise 2pm Stalagmite (Salk) Oval
Redland Victoria-Point v Morningside 2pm Totally Workwear Park