Masterclass ... Gary Ablett was at his brilliant best for Gold Coast. Source: JOE CASTRO / AAP
Gold Coast scored their biggest winning margin and claimed their first AFL victory in Melbourne with a 60-point thumping of the Demons at the MCG on Sunday.
Suns skipper Gary Ablett gathered 38 possessions as the visitors triumphed 16.18 (114) to 7.12 (54) to improve their win-loss record to 3-4.
| 0.2 (2) | Q1 | 5.5 (35) |
| 3.7 (25) | Q2 | 9.8 (62) |
| 4.10 (34) | Q3 | 14.12 (96) |
| 7.12 (54) | Q4 | 16.18 (114) |
Jeremy Howe 3 | Campbell Brown 3 |
Max Gawn 2 | Zac Smith 3 |
James Strauss 1 | Aaron Hall 2 |
Colin Sylvia 1 | Thomas Lynch 2 |
Harley Bennell 1 | |
Sam Day 1 | |
Jarrod Harbrow 1 | |
Steven May 1 | |
Trent McKenzie 1 | |
Matt Shaw 1 |
It was third-year club Gold Coast's first win in Victoria in 10 outings.
Suns coach Guy McKenna - a premiership player with West Coast in the 1990s - said it took the Eagles several years to score their first win at the MCG.
"So to do that in three years is sort of a milestone because we understand the challenge of an interstate side to come here and play your good footy because this is where it counts,'' McKenna said.
"Clearly it's not September yet but to come off the MCG confident and know you can win here is a good step for the young group.''
Melbourne - with only one win in 2013 - delivered more heartbreak to their long-suffering fans with a lacklustre performance which increases the pressure on coach Mark Neeld to hold his job.
The home side did not score a goal until the second term.
Colin Sylvia's late hit on Gold Coast's Jared Brennan - a forearm to the head which left Brennan in a neck brace being taken off on a motorised cart - summed up a poor day for the Demons.
Demons supporters immediately started booing Sylvia, who was placed on report.
Melbourne coach Mark Neeld said the tackle count was really disappointing.
"It's appalling. We had 38 tackles,'' he said.
Gold Coast showed greater urgency in the opening term, leading by 33 points at the first break after kicking five goals and holding the Demons to just two behinds.
McKenna said the Suns showed resilience in the last term to be outscored by only two points with Brennan and Tom Murphy off the field nursing concussion injuries.
"From all reports both boys are up and walking around,'' McKenna said.
"Fingers crossed for next week.''
But one stat which pleased McKenna greatly was the tackle count which the Suns won 71-38.
"To double their tackle count, we were close to that, that was fantastic by our boys today,'' he said.
Towering forward Max Gawn booted two of Melbourne's three majors in the second quarter but the Suns contributed another four goals of their own to extend their lead to 37 points at halftime.
By three-quarter time the margin was a massive 62 points following a five-goal term from the Suns, as they restricted the Demons to a single major in front of a small crowd of 13,304.
The Demons scored 3.2 to Gold Coast's 2.6 in a dull final term.
Campbell Brown and ruck/forward Zac Smith kicked three goals each for the Suns while high-leaping forward Jeremy Howe booted three for the Demons.
Harley Bennell and Brennan played key roles for the Suns to set up their huge lead at three-quarter time while Rory Thompson was solid in defence.
Tough-tackling teenager Jack Viney played with plenty of spirit for the Demons and gathered 23 possessions. Viney was involved in an accidental head clash with Gold Coast's Tom Murphy in the final term, with a bloodied Murphy carried off wearing a neck brace.
Former Collingwood key forward Chris Dawes failed to kick a goal in his first game for the Demons.
Gold Coast host Western Bulldogs next Saturday in round eight while the Demons face Richmond at the MCG the following day.
Before the game, new Melbourne chief executive Peter Jackson has urged patience with the AFL team's besieged coach Mark Neeld.
"The team has lost games and sometimes lost miserably,'' Jackson told Channel Seven's Game Day.
"Members and supporters, they're frustrated and rightly so - this is not going to be about turning on a light switch.
"All the external factors that have gone on (at) this footy club over the last 20 months ... Mark, for a good part of that, has been right in the middle of it.
"I would defy anyone to be performing at their optimum while that's all going on around them. I just think we have to give everyone a chance to prove what they can do.''
Click here to view all of the stats and scores in the FOX FOOTY Match Centre.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét