By Chris ‘Yeendy’ Yeend
MAROOCHYDORE tasted its first premiership victory in the QAFL when they defeated Palm Beach Currumbin by eight-points in the Colts Grand Final at Giffin Park.
The Roos led by 21-points heading into the final term; before withstanding a major fightback from the Lions in the final term to secure the 9.10.64 to 8.8.56 victory.
FIRST QUARTER
Palm Beach Currumbin looked in control early on the back of its 2022 premiership win, playing with great confidence from the opening bounce.
Nelson Beikoff-Smart kicked the opening goal on his opposite foot with a stunning snap from close range to open the goal-scoring account four-minutes into the contest for the Lions.
Some difficult misses in front of goal for the Lions proved costly; racing away to 1.3 in the opening eight-minutes.
Damon Clarke was promising across half-back and captain Luke Cahill presented well in the early stages for the Lions.
Jayden Banks opened up the account for the Roos with a relaxed set-shot nearing on 14-minutes into the term.
Maroochydore used its ruckmen to advantage in hot conditions with Nathan Jensen and vice-captain Will Jones rotating off the bench; making it difficult for Palm Beach Currumbin to establish any dominance in the ruck.
Beikoff-Smart kicked a goal on his preferred foot (right) to extend the Lions’ lead out to nine points before strong forward Ty Gallop kicked truly to close the gap to three-points at quarter-time.
Palm Beach Currumbin 2.4.16 -2.1.13 Maroochydore
SECOND QUARTER
The Roos started dominating the play from the opening bounce of the quarter but like so often in the first term, continued to attempt to spot up forward Koby Young and the likes of Clarke, Ezekiel Stortenbaker, Jasper Williams and Matt Walkerden would stand in the way.
The Roos had trouble with accuracy in front of goal, kicking 0.4 to 0.1 inside the first 10-minutes.
Captain Hudson Vivian broke the deadlock with a goal on the run to give his team its first lead of the contest; by five-points.
Cahill and Mitch Beaufoy established their dominance on the scoreboard for the Lions with back-to-back goals in 40-seconds to turn the tide firmly in the lap of their team.
SECOND QUARTER – TURNING POINT
With the ball after half-back for the Lions; Maroochydore’s Koby Young pressed into the midfield. He won the clearance, sending the ball to the wing where a team mate was awarded a free-kick; who played on, spotted up Hunter Moore who kicked truly to cut the margin back to one-point at the 18-minute mark of the quarter.
That clearance from Young, who had his influenced shut out of the game up forward, helped spark a run of three goals in two-minutes for Maroochydore where Young would kick the goal to put his team in front for the second and final time of the game.
Maroochydore 6.5.41 – 4.5.29 Palm Beach Currumbin
THIRD QUARTER
Macklin Johnston opened up his account for the day fresh out of the half-time break for the Lions with a goal from a set-shot inside the opening minute.
Unfortunately for the Lions, this was its last score of the quarter.
With 2023 Brisbane Lions VFL player and stand-out junior Brad McDonald dominating at half-back, Maroochydore was able to repel any forward entries that Palm Beach Currumbin attempted.
After spending much of the first quarter on the bench, Jett Rowe inserted his presence on the game for the Lions with hard-hitting tackling and negating the influence of the Roos’ midfield. He grew with confidence as the game progressed.
Riley McMillan and Gallop (third) kicked goals to close out the quarter as the Roos led by a game-high margin at three-quarter time.
Maroochydore 8.8.56 – 5.5.35 Palm Beach Currumbin
FINAL QUARTER
The Lions needed a spark and it got that through the talent of Rowe who thumped through a long-range goal on his left foot on the boundary while at full sprint to cut the margin back to 14-points in the opening minutes.
With Cahill pushing further up the ground, it felt like the Lions would come home strongly.
When Tai Hayes kicked truly for the Lions, the margin was cut back to nine-points.
Gallop kicked his fourth goal for the Roos from the next centre clearance to push the margin back out to 15-points.
Luke Cahill kicked an extraordinary goal for the Lions 10-minutes into the term to trim the margin back into single figures.
The following 12-minutes had both teams digging deep and applying hard-hitting tackles, neither willing to concede a goal; and that’s what happened with the siren sounding with Maroochydore coming away eight-point winners.
MAROOCHDORE 9.10.64 defeated PALM BEACH CURRUMBIN 8.8.56
Goals: (Maroochydore) Ty Gallop 4, Jayden Banks, Riley McMillan, Hudson Vivian and Koby Young 1. (Palm Beach Currumbin) Nelson Beikoff-Smart 2, Luke Cahill 2, Mitch Beaufoy, Tai Hayes, Macklin Johnston, Jet Rowe 1.
Best On Ground – Ty Gallop (4.4) – Maroochydore
Images by Brooke Sleep Media
