The Brisbane Lions (110) defeated the Gold Coast Suns (56) in the Queensland derby ‘Q Clash’ at The Gabba on Saturday.
The loss continues the Suns’ winless streak without their captain and star midfielder Gary Ablett. The defeat also keeps them outside of the top 8 as their finals ambitions fade faster than a clear-sky sunset.
While for the lowly-Lions, the victory restores some pride back into a difficult season.
The Suns never recovered from a dominant first quarter by the Lions, who kicked seven goals to lead by 41 points at the first break. The Lions extended their lead at each break until the fourth quarter, where the Suns 2.2 (14) outscored the Lions 2.0 (12). However, it was a case of too little too late as the Lions claimed a 54-point victory over their southeast Queensland rivals.
Josh Green kicked three goals for the Lions, while Dayne Zorko, Ashley McGrath, Michael Close and Pearce Hanley all kicked two for the Brisbane side.
Alex Sexton kicked three goals for the Suns.
Hanley added to his goals with 45 disposals and picked up the Marcus Ashcroft Medal for man-of-the-match after his immense effort.
The Lions dominated the disposals with 399 to the Suns’ 272. The Lions’ Hanley (45), Tom Rockliff (47), Zorko (32) and Ryan Harwood (24) all racked up more disposals than the Suns’ best, Danny Stanley (23).
In other statistics, the Lions more than doubled the Suns’ marks (80-33), while they almost doubled the Suns’ inside-50s (70-40).
Gold Coast host St Kilda at Metricon Stadium next Saturday in what is a must-win for the Suns if they want to get their finals hopes back on track.
Three weeks ago, the Suns would have been tipped to beat the Saints, but with Ablett out for the season and their ominous showing against Brisbane fresh in the mind, can the Saints repeat last week’s performance against Fremantle and shock the Suns?
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