GOLD Coast was valiant but fell away badly in the last quarter to a red-hot Brent Moloney and the Melbourne Demons.
LESS than a week after losing the vice captaincy, Brent Moloney has led Melbourne to its second successive win with a 90-point victory over Gold Coast at the Gabba on Sunday.
On a day when the Demons struggled to put away the fumbling Suns, Moloney was a star, racking up 32 possessions and booting an important goal in the third quarter.
At half time the match was going very much to script with the visitors up by 46 points, but the Suns showed some third quarter spirit, kicking three straight goals and winning the term by a point.
However their brief run, which brought the deficit back to 33 points, was snuffed out by Moloney’s only goal.
And in front of a crowd of 12,111, it was all one-way traffic in the last quarter as Melbourne piled on eight goals to one.
They won 23.21 (159) to 9.15 (69).While Moloney starred in the middle of the ground, Jack Trengove was not far behind.
The second year player tallied 29 touches and added two goals in a polished display.
Melbourne shared the major, with 13 goalkickers in all, led by Liam Jurrah and Cale Morton who kicked three apiece.
Jurrah was part of an intriguing duel with rugby league convert Karmichael Hunt for most of the day before the Demon was substituted at three quarter time by Jack Watts.
He kicked all three goals in the first half but Hunt fought hard.
Melbourne’s body strength and superior fitness shone through in the end, with Brad Green (two goals), outpointing his opponent on a number of occasions and Aaron Davey shaking a tight first half tag from debutant Matt Shaw by moving forward and kicking two goals in the second half.
For the Suns, Zac Smith may have got just 11 possessions, but the 206cm giant looks a prodigious talent, highlighted by his running goal in the second quarter that had him carrying the ball 15m before drilling the major from 45m.
Influential players
After his off-field indiscretion last week, Brent Moloney paid his club back in spades. The hard-nut midfielder racked up 23 possessions in the first half and finished with 32 for the match. He had 10 clearances and was clearly the best afield when the game was on the line.
Number one draft pick David Swallow had arguably the best game of his fledgling career for the Suns. With captain Gary Ablett out injured, Swallow received a lot of attention in the midfield but still had 19 possessions and went forward to kick two goals.
What it means
It looks impressive on the scoreboard and Melbourne got the four points as expected, but their fans won’t be thrilled. They led by 46 points at half time and should have put the Ablett-less Suns away by more. It’s still hard to tell just how serious a finals threat they are.
While there were glimpses of excitement from the Suns, they are still a long way off putting four quarters together. The endeavour is there, but the execution is still a way off. However they did create history when they won the third quarter by a point, their first victory in a quarter at AFL level. You have to begin with small steps.
The next four
Melbourne: bye, West Coast (a), Adelaide (h), North Melbourne (a)
Gold Coast: Port Adelaide (a), Essendon (a), Brisbane Lions (h), Adelaide (a)
Dream Team highlightColin Sylvia started slowly but came home like a train to top the standings with 132 points. The midfielder-forward racked up the stats after half-time and is no doubt a good value pick.
While his game was serviceable at best, Michael Rischitelli was again the top dog for the Suns. The former Brisbane Lion chipped away for all four quarters to finish with 105 points. David Swallow also came on strongly and finished with 96.
What the coaches said
Dean Bailey: “Our record away is just starting to improve, it is pleasing to come away with the win, particularly with the humidity. I think there were patches where there was improvement, our fitness and run at the end was good. I think some of our decision making with our kicking let us down, they rebounded well and created some opportunities to score.”
Guy McKenna: “You take away that 20 minutes of the last quarter, I’d say it’s a step forward and again it’s because of the 1 percenters, it’s the third game together for everyone. When we go clean (possession) and first option, the footy was exciting, but when we hesitated we get caught ... no matter if it’s a first four side, top eight side, any side on the AFL ladder is going to tear you apart and certainly Melbourne did that.”
Key match-ups
Liam Jurrah v Karmichael Hunt. In a battle of Melbourne’s instant highlight machine against code-hopping Hunt, you could argue the points were split. Jurrah kicked three in the first half - two directly on Hunt - but the former rugby league star fought back to take the points in the third term before Jurrah was substituted out of the game. Jurrah beat Hunt once on the lead and once in the air to maybe marginally get the nod in a tight battle.
Magic moment
In a day when Suns fans had little to cheer for, former Collingwood Magpie Danny Stanley gave them something to remember. In the midst of a third quarter comeback, Gold Coast went deep into their forward line where a marking contest saw the ball spill free about 10m from goal in line with the right hand behind post. Instead of taking possession, Stanley did a roundhouse kick mid-air and somehow split the sticks with a truly remarkable effort.
Melbourne 6.2 11.9 15.14 23.21 (159)
Gold Coast 3.2 4.5 8.11 9.15 (69)
GOALS
Melbourne: Jurrah 3, Morton 3, Davey 2, Trengove 2, Dunn 2, Green 2, Jamar 2, Wonaeamirri 2, Moloney, Sylvia, Bail, Jones, Bennell
Gold Coast: Smith 2, Swallow 2, Stanley, Fraser, Matera, Shaw, Magin
BEST
Melbourne: Moloney, Trengove, Davey, Grimes, Jamar, Jurrah,
Gold Coast: Swallow, Rischitelli, Brennan, McKenzie
INJURIES
Melbourne: nil
Gold Coast: Coad (hamstring)
SUBSTITUTES
Melbourne: Jurrah (replaced by Jack Watts at start of the fourth quarter)
Gold Coast: Gorringe (replaced by Alik Magin early in third quarter)
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Meredith, Ryan, Keating
Official crowd: 12,111 at the Gabba
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of the clubs or the AFL
