2ND PRELIMINARY FINAL
SOUTHPORT 1.2 6.9 9.15 14.25 (109)
GOLD COAST 3.2 6.2 12.3 13.3 (81)
Goals: SOUTHPORT: Z. Foot, T. Fields 3, B. Gowers, D. Charlesworth 2, R. King, R. Davis, J. Joyce, M. Pescud. GOLD COAST: C. Burgess 4, J. Corbett 2, J. Bowes, M. Conroy, H. Oea, J. Sharp, J. Tsitas, A. Sexton, J. Foggo.
Best: SOUTHPORT: Z. Foot, J. Dawson, B. Crossley, K. Boakye, B. Woodcock, J. Joyce, S. Tape, M. Willis. GOLD COAST: C. Constable, S. Flanders, N. Moyle, H. Oea, D. Macpherson, J. Bowes, J. Corbett, C. Burgess.
THE best two teams all year will play off for the Smithy’s VFL premiership at IKON Park after a Zac Foot-inspired Southport eventually overwhelmed Gold Coast with weight of opportunity to win their preliminary final by 28 points at Fankhauser Reserve on Sunday.
Both teams showed their intent from the outset, with Shark Max Pescud charging out from full-forward and Sun Darcy Macpherson coming back with the flight of the ball in the opening minute, with the Sun coming off second-best in a collision which delayed play for a couple of minutes.
Once it resumed, the Sharks dominated possession and scoring shots but tried to kick themselves out of the game by booting a woeful 14.25 and at least a couple out on the full, only putting their next-door neighbours away in the last quarter to claim the inaugural Alan “Doc” Mackenzie Cup.
Southport surprised nobody when it brought Billy Gowers back into the team at the last minute at the expense of the unlucky Callum Searle, while Jay Lockhart fronted with heavy padding under a glove on his right hand after having surgery on a break sustained in the qualifying final win over Brisbane Lions.
But it was the Suns who opened the healthy crowd’s eyes early with a committed defensive display led by key defenders Rory Thompson and Mac Andrew, who had five intercept marks between them to give the visitors a 12-point lead at the first break despite conceding an 18-11 inside-50 count.
The home team became even more ominous in the second term with a comprehensive 20-5 entry count, but its radar was completely off as it sprayed 5.7 to 3.0 to only lead by seven points at half-time – amazingly, the Sharks were missing the sitters, with an otherwise damaging Pescud (0.3, one no score) one of the leading offenders, but kicking the miracles including stunning Smithy’s Snags from Foot and Rhys King.
Southport co-captain and ball magnet Jacob Dawson, who had a crazy 21 disposals including 13 contested, plus nine clearances, five tackles and three inside-50s in the first half, left nobody in any doubt about how much this contest meant to the Sharks at the break when asked about the feeling in the contest by Channel 7’s Nigel Carmody that it “was a focus, there’s plenty there, I think there’s been 16 of us that have been sacked by this mob, so we’re really enjoying this, but it’s football and we’re attacking the football”.
Gold Coast found another gear in the third quarter as Southport’s wastefulness continued to hurt, with the Suns booting 6.1 to 3.6 as Papuan flyer Hewago Paul Oea caused all sorts of headaches with his pace, Charlie Constable and Sam Flanders knocked up winning the ball and Chris Burgess finally found a way to escape the close attention of Seb Tape to kick three goals for the term and give his team the lead at the last change despite having had just 15 scoring shots to 24.
But then it became the Foot show as the former Sydney Swan swooped on a loose ball on his right foot in the opening minute to level the scores before receiving a handball from Jesse Joyce and snapping truly on the left as the rope stretched to breaking point, only for the Sharks to keep the Suns in it by kicking 10 behinds from 11 shots in the first 22 minutes, with a remarkable long-range snap from Burgess for his fourth keeping the margin tight at nine points.
But Dan Charlesworth’s second goal in the 23rd minute finally broke the Suns’ backs and a signature handball receive and 55m bomb from Tom Fields for his third, followed by Pescud finally getting a handball from Foot to run into an open goal before sprinting through the open gate to celebrate with the Sharks’ fans and put the exclamation mark on the win.
The victory books the Sharks their third Grand Final appearance in a row after winning the 2018 NEAFL flag before losing the 2019 decider to the Lions, and they will carry the hopes of Queensland and the entire former NEAFL competition, as well as those of the standalone clubs, into the big dance.
Foot picked the right time to produce his best game as a Shark, finishing with 31 disposals, eight clearances and nine inside-50s while booting 3.3 to be the clear best man on the ground as the home team won disposals 367-328, clearances 54-32, inside-50s by a stunning 74-43 scoring shots 39-16.
He received plenty of support from the usual suspects in Dawson (35 touches, 13 clearances, six tackles, six entries) and Boyd Woodcock (36, six clearances, seven entries), while Jesse Joyce (32, 10 clearances, seven entries, five tackles, one goal) had a huge second half and Lockhart (23, five marks) an outstanding first half.
The bullocking Brayden Crossley (21 touches, seven marks, 36 hitouts and six clearances) was again a monolith for Southport in an enthralling battle with Ned Moyle (19 possessions, six marks, 45 hitouts) as they rucked almost one-out all day.
Kwaby Boakye mostly silenced Alex Sexton although the Sun still had a handful of goal assists and one major of his own and Tape had Burgess under control in the first half but couldn’t hold the Frosty Miller medallist all day.
Constable and Flanders piled up cricket scores once again, putting in huge shifts in the middle and working back to help their defenders, with the former ending with 40 disposals, eight marks, nine clearances and seven rebounds and the latter having 42 touches, nine marks, six clearances, six rebounds and seven tackles to finish with a ridiculous 125 possessions across just three finals.
Oea only had 14 touches but it looked like something was going to happen every time he went near the ball as he also kicked a goal and laid six tackles, while Macpherson (26, five marks, 13 rebounds) bounced back from that early collision to hold the Sharks at bay for as long as possible, Jack Bowes (23, five clearances, six entries, six rebounds, seven tackles, one goal) worked hard up and down the ground and Josh Corbett took 10 marks and kicked two majors playing further away from goal.
Twitter: @BRhodesVFL
THIS WEEK
Sunday, September 18
Smithy’s VFL Grand Final
Casey Demons v Southport (IKON Park)
Twitter: @BRhodesVFL