A brilliant last quarter that featured 14 goals between the
two sides in front about 5000 people saw Morningside come out on top. Note ten goal kickers
Final Score: Morningside 20 13 133 def Broadie 16 6 102
Goals: Zorko 3, Cooke 3, Ablett 2, T Rolfe, A Rolfe, Palmer, Scales, Walters, Ryan, McKenzie and Clough 1 apiece
Best: Oelhman, Clough, Searl, A Rolfe, R Pantic, Zorko
Guildford Trophy: Jesse Derrick 4 votes and Josh Searl 1.
Great to see Adam Oehlman's name in the best. He has toiled manfully in the Magoos in defensive and on-ball roles and deserved his opportunity. Let's hope he continues to build on this great effort.
Morningside repelled a stunning Broadbeach final quarter
onslaught in front of a bigger crowd than the grand final to entrench
themselves in the QAFL top three today.
With Merrimac Oval bulging at the seams with close to 5000
spectators for the Gold Coast VFL game, the vast majority became Cats
supporters for the last term of the curtain-raiser as Broadbeach made an
amazing run at the reigning premiers.
The crowd support could be attributed to one of either two phenomena: A liking for the underdog or low crowd intelligence as described in "The Wisdom of Crowds" by James Surowiecki (2004). The later has its roots in irrational behaviour such as a stock market crash where we all fall over each other to sell off, or indeed buy up! We will opt for the former.
The crowd was a fair size. Five thousand is not many less than lowest ever AFL/VFL attendance of 5083 Fitzroy v the Dogs in 1996 and quite likely a few more than the odd NRL attendance. Whatever, it was a tad more than we are used to at Merrimac to the point that Fifey - from Wagga Wagga - reckons it was the biggest mob he had ever seen in one place; Bulldog - from Tassie - was suffering from claustrophobia in the outer crowd during the last stanza; and such was the scope of crowd personalties, Coach Smithy,
our most revered member of the Redheads and Nearly Ginger Association
(RANGA), reckons he copped Julia Gillard in the rooms at half time. Rolly was near beside himself with excitement selling raffle tickets and club treasurer Brendan Howard was not far behind him in the counting house! According to Mick, the bar takings indicated each crowd member had 4 pots and 2 rum and cokes per head. Well done to all who volunteered to work the afternoon, you probably didn't get to see too much but you certainly deserve votes for the afternoon. Footnote: We can't help but thank the GCFC for scheduling Special K's first game on home soil at Merrimac. We're also thinking our derby rivals are wondering how that worked out.
The home side led by three points at halftime but trailed by
31 at the last break, with the game seemingly out of reach.
But with Adam McKenzie giving his side a huge midfield lit,
Dayne Zorko and Nathan Ablett booting two goals each and Jesse Derrick and Matt
Fife running rampant, the Cats booted six goals straight in 12 minutes to steal
and unlikely lead, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Enter Jacob
Gough.
Having dominated the ruck all day, Gough imposed his will
even further on the fixture and completely turned the momentum.
He gave an armchair ride to his smaller players with Mark
Rootsey and Tyson Upton regaining control of the midfield, Austin Lucy running
amok as he so often does in the last quarter of a game, and Shaun Mugavin
offering a reliable target up forward.
The result was six unanswered goals in 12 minutes of their
own, and seven in succession before the Cats got a consolation goal in the
dying minutes.
Broadbeach conceded some costly penalties with poor
discipline as the game began to unravel for them.
The 14-goal final term lasted 35 minutes and when the dust
settled the Panthers had registered a 20.13 (133) to 16.6 (102) victory.
It sent Morningside three games clear of their nearest
pursuer below, although the NT Thunder were still to play tonight.
Morningside’s performance was all the more admirable
considering they lost gun midfielder Ryan Holman and Grogan Medallist Nathan
Kinch during the week, robbing them of even more ballwinning ability.
Gough, who six weeks earlier had produced a similarly
gargantuan performance pull a win from the fire at Labrador, was supreme in the
ruck and around the ground.
Defending Nic Tomlinson was outstanding in a back pocket and
hurt the Cats with two goals running right up the ground.
Mugavin’s four-goal haul was his best effort in a month and
came when needed most by his side.
The game heralded the return of tall defender Jarrod Price
and he was solid, as was Aaron Rogers.
Derrick kept his side in the contest with a hard-running display off
half-back, while Fife was a typically prolific kick-winner and Josh Searl again
provided plenty of drive.
Key forward Michael Cooke enjoyed a purple patch in the
second term when he contributed three of the Cats’ six goals as they booted to
the lead having generated just two scoring shots to seven in the opening term.
We can approach next week's derby with some confidence.
The Bulletin found space to record the feats of Tinka in the previous game, which reminds us that we have been pulled into line over our report of that game. One Wayne Waldie - let's hope we've got that right - was the player who claims 14 in an afternoon's work, and not Wayne Walker as we reported. Our apologies, too many in the crowd that day. The Bully article is printed below:
It was a timely reminder by Broadbeach Cats gun Dayne Zorko
that should make the Gold Coast Football Club and the Brisbane Lions sit up and
take notice.
The 21-year-old was played deep in attack on Saturday
against the Western Magpies in the QAFL Division One on Saturday after forward
Korey Fulton was a late withdrawal.
Zorko, a classy on-baller, kicked 12 goals in one of the
performances of the season as the Cats won 20.12 (132) to 13.10 (88).
He was overlooked in the national draft a few years back but
again pressed his strong AFL potential with the dozen majors.
"He's a pretty special talent and a good
footballer," said Cats coach Adrian Smith.
"It wasn't just the goals he kicked -- his chasing and
tackling in the forward line was some of the best I have seen in a long time
and he was outstanding.
Smith does not hesitate when asked if Zorko deserves a shot
at AFL level.
"I wish they would give him a crack," he said.
"We had five GCFC boys playing in our team and I know
there were a few eyes from the club there watching.
"Gee whiz, it would be hard for them not to be
impressed by what he did on the day.
"Sometimes you give blokes opportunities and they run
with it, and I think 'Tinker' would."
The result was a fitting way to honour the 150th game of
Cats utility Ben Walters.
Magoos
It appears the blokes went down fighting again. Good to see young blokes in the best pushing for senior selection and a ranga with senior experience, Nick O'Hare, accepting the challenge for promotion. Our seniors are honest contenders for finals footy and it is vital that the Magoos go about their business with a developmental purview.
Final Score: Broadbeach 6 3 39 def by Morningside 8 11 59
Goals: J Pantic 2, Luke 2, Lyons and Clough T 1 each
Best: Squire, Pantic J, Fitzgerald, Christie, Robertson and O'Hare
Last Modified on 01/07/2010 19:17