By Chris ‘Yeendy’ Yeend
BROADBEACH v MAROOCHYDORE
These two teams took to field at Redland-Victoria Point with pure desperation to keep their finals’ dreams alive. It was this desperation that was evident from the opening bounce and did not stop until the final siren in what proved to be the match of the weekend across all six QAFL finals on Saturday.
With scores level at 65-points apiece with just a handful of minutes to go, Maroochydore swept the ball from half-back to the forward 50 in the blink of an eye to secure a six-point victory.
Broadbeach went into the game perhaps as slight favourites based on its position on the ladder, but with a log-jam of teams jostling for positions between third and sixth, and four weeks between matches, it meant that anything could happen, and that proved evident in this game other than the prospect of a blow-out.
Maroochydore kicked with the aid of a slight breeze in the opening term as both teams registered four-scoring shots each, with the Roos holding a slender five-point lead.
Broadbeach stormed out of the blocks in the second stanza to hit the front, but a late goal from the Roos just before half-time cut the margin back to two-points.
Alex Moloney and Brayden Taylor looked damaging and Troy Toussaint (2 goals) looked menacing up forward for the Cats while goal kicking machine Sam Curtis (4 goals) and team mate Lachlan O’Toole caused headaches for the Roos.
Broadbeach struggled to keep its kicking boots on in the second half, wasting a number of key opportunities while Maroochydore had a better conversation rate at the other end.
A three-point three-quarter time lead extended to over a kick late in the final term for the Roos before a number of costly misses hampered Broadbeach in its quest to hit the front.
With a goal late in the contest, scores were level 10.5 to 9.11 and the prospects of extra-time looked likely. The transition from half-back to the forward 50 for a goal to put the Roos in front looked like the game was all but over. A late surge from Broadbeach had it desperately trying to kick a miracle goal, but it was to no avail as the siren sounded in their forward line and the Roos celebrated a stunning win.
Maroochydore 11.5 (71) defeated Broadbeach 9.11 (65)
Goals: (Maroochydore) S. Curtis 4, S. McKenzie 2, B. Thomas 2, L. Stewart, S. Nelson, B. Williams 1.
(Broadbeach) T. Toussaint 2, C. Grant 2, S. Cunnington, X. McMahon, L. Dempsey-Ceh, A. Rayner, J. O’Shea 1.
Best (Maroochydore) B. Thomas, M. McDonald, L. O’Toole, M. Habgood, S. Curtis, B. Finn.
(Broadbeach) B. Taylor, T. Toussaint, J. Lyons, A. Moloney, J. Schoenmaker, J. Welsh.
PALM BEACH CURRUMBIN v SURFERS PARADISE
On paper, this had the makings of being the closest game of the weekend, but when the final siren sounded, it was the biggest blow-out of the weekend.
These two teams looked evenly matched on paper with little separating them across the season and it looked set to be a real arm-wrestle from the opening bounce.
Surfers Paradise must have picked up the wrong script as it surged out of the blocks with six goals in the first term to lead by 24-points. Ironically its Senior team would trail by that margin at quarter-time a few hours later.
Good kicking is good football and credit to both teams who kicked a combined 8.2 in the opening term.
Palm Beach Currumbin burst out of the blocks in the second term with some outstanding field kicking that lead to equally good goal kicking. It kicked five-goals from six shots to level the scores at half-time, 7.2 apiece in what should have set the stage with an epic second-half.
Palm Beach Currumbin took its turn of picking up the wrong script and blew the Demons right off of the park with a scintillating display of football. It kicked a staggering 7.2 to 1.0 to lead by a remarkable 38-points at half-time. It kicked a remarkable 12.3 to 2.1 in the space of two quarters in a 62-point turn-around in one of the most remarkable performances across two quarters seen by a team this year.
The Demons tried hard to respond in the last quarter but the wind had been taken out of their sails as PBC recorded a 38-point win.
Ethan Mackie and Connor Matheson were simply outstanding for Surfers Paradise in a losing team while Cooper Portelli and Aidan McCabe were brilliant for the winners.
Palm Beach Currumbin 14.11 (95) defeated Surfers Paradise 9.3 (57)
Goals: (Palm Beach Currumbin) C. Poharama 2, J. Curtis, N. Walker, D. Gordon, K. Pescud, Z. Baker, J. Cendamo, M. Hopkins 1.
(Surfers Paradise) W. Graham 2, C. Portelli 2, A. McCabe 2, E. Dawson 2, L. McNally, B. Howard, J. Walter, L. Torpy, L. O’Brien, J. Graham 1.
Best: (Palm Beach Currumbin) E. Mackie, C. Matheson, C. Poharama, J. Curtis, J. Nieass, J. Curtiss.
