Lions end the Demons’ fairytale
PALM Beach-Currumbin surged into their eighth grand final in the last 11 years when they overpowered Gold Coats rivals Surfers Paradise in the preliminary final at Len Peak Oval, Kirra, on Saturday.
Never headed after a fiery start, the Lions ran all over the tiring Demons in the final quarter to win by 18.16 (124) to 8.13 (61).
The minor premiers now prepare for a tough road trip to the Sunshine Coast next Saturday when they play their second semi-final conquerors Noosa in the grand final at Fisherman’s Road.
After their stunning comeback victory over Maroochy-Northshore in the knockout first semi the previous weekend, hopes of bowling over another hotpot were high in the Surfers camp.
But this time there was no fairytale ending for the Demons, who came from 43 points down at the 13-minute mark of the last quarter with nine straight goals to down the Roos.
Instead, it was the Lions who had the scoreboard attendants working overtime late as they raced on7.4 to the 1.4 of the Demons after leading by 27 points at three-quarter time.
It was a performance PBC coach Craig O’Brien was expecting after their loss to Noosa seven days prior.
After that loss, O’Brien felt his players needed the hard hit-out they received from the Tigers. The Lions, he said, had gone into the big match on the back of two ‘soft’ matches, then a weekend off as minor premiers.
“The way we ran out the game today was really pleasing,” said O’Brien.
“I felt we got on top in the second quarter, then our third quarter working into a tricky breeze, was good.”
That was a period when the Demons kicked 4.2 to 3.4 to get back into the game.
But within the space of five minutes into the fourth term, PBC pushed their advantage to 40 points, then stretched it to 57 at the 13-minute mark – and that was the ball game.
“That was a good sign (the final term effort) because a lot of players started to find some form,” said O’Brien. “The longer the game went the better we got.”
PBC went in without premiership ruckman Aaron Lohrey, who was not risked because of knee soreness, although O’Brien declared him a certain starter for the grand final.
So should quality midfielder Josh McLoughlan, who also missed the preliminary final because of a strained calf.
In the absence of full-forward Tony Pierri (broken jaw), PBC used Adrian Hill at spearhead and elected to run star utility James Drake at centre half-forward.
The latter move, especially, had the Surfers defence stretched because they could not find anyone with the ability to quell Drake’s significant input, especially early.
Hill finished with 5.3 and Drake chipped in with 3.2.
But the goal of the match came late when PBC’s Aboriginal excitement machine Arnold Knight kicked a beauty from more than 50 metres out and on a tight angle after accepting a handball from Darryl Dyson.
Knight had a grand game and produced several of his trademark dashes from defence to set up attacks.
Ruckman Michael I’Anson was superb and the Lions were also pleased with the performance of Tim Newton tagging Surfers middleman Travis Tamburro who, while he did some nice things and was far from the Demons’ worst, had his regular possession tally diminished somewhat.
Defender Ryan Carroll, who missed a good chunk of the latter part of the season with a fractured jaw, also ran on nicely and was particularly prominent after half-time.
Surfers can probably look to an erratic opening term that eventually hurt them dearly.
The Demons had a wayward 3.6 on the board at quarter-time after missing several easy chances at goal.
“We wasted the ball that first quarter,” agreed coach Paul Hams. “We had the first four scoring shots and I think we kicked three points.
“The other weeks we’d been kicking the goals. Against Palm Beach you can’t do that. They don’t give you a second opportunity.”
And when Surfers needed to get a run going in the fourth quarter, they kicked the ball to an unmarked opponent at least six times heading into the 50-metre zone.
“Turnovers have been a problem against good teams – and Palm Beach hurt you” said Hams.
Surfers had rover Brad Scalzo, skipper Simon Fenton, centre half-forward Matt McCormack and Luke Pridmore as their best.
For Pridmore, it was a sour way to celebrate his 150th game for the Demons.
The game featured a couple of fiery set-tos early and a totally confusing issue after Demon Jacob Clark was sin-binned in the first quarter.
Clark was reported for striking PBC defender Matt Flynn in a boundary-line brawl, and the reporting umpire held up a card, which many said was yellow.
But when PBC captain Matt Carroll approached the umpires at the quarter-time break, he was told it was a red card, which meant Clark was supposed to have sat out the rest of the match.
After further confusion, the field umpire then declared it was a yellow card only, which allowed Clark to complete the match, although he later accepted a two-match penalty for his strike on Flynn.
RESERVE GRADE
Roos take a tight one
MAROOCHY-Northshore set up a Sunshine Coast-Gold Coast rivalry for Pineapple Hotel Cup grand final day when they outslogged Wilston-Grange in the reserve grade preliminary final at Len Peak Oval.
The Roos took an extremely even contest by 9.9 (63) to 8.10 (58) after a clash in which little more than a goal separated the sides throughout.
Maroochy led 3.2 to 2.3 at the first break, by 5.4 to 4.6 at half-time and were a point ahead at three-quarter time leading 6.8 to 6.7
The Roos now play minor premiers Palm Beach-Currumbin in next weekend’s grand final, being played on home turf at Fisherman’s Road.
Declan Magill, Jesse Goldfinch and Matt Peters starred for the winners while for the Gorillas, best were Matt Bradforde, Dean Warren and David Beavers.
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