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GOLD COAST 13.7 (85) def COLLINGWOOD 11.12 (78)
IF there was ever any doubt about how much better the Gold Coast Suns are this year, last night’s seven-point win over Collingwood at Metricon Stadium should erase them.
The Suns have gone from lucky to win a game to beating a top eight team for the first time in their history and the importance of beating a club as venerable as Collingwood cannot be understated for a team that is now a chance to play finals footy as early as next year.
This was a game where the Suns didn’t catch a team by surprise, it was a game that they seized control of from the first bounce and that they refused to surrender in spite of the very best efforts of the Magpies.
And for the Suns was there ever any doubt that their captain and best player, Gary Ablett Jnr, would be in the thick of it?
Ablett was masterful with an astonishing 49 disposal and two goal performance that had Twitter ablaze with comments amd comparisons with his father as the star midfielder further strengthened his odds for winning a second Brownlow Medal.
In a shocking decision Collingwood opted to play Ablett without a tagger choosing instead to play Brent Macaffer on Trent McKenzie a move that was ultimately ineffective as well as the Suns defender still managed to amass 24 disposals.
While there will be plenty of criticism levied on their own team by Collingwood supporters, and quite probably a lot of it on their coach, the reality is that the Magpies , while still a very good team, are nonetheless a team that is in transition that was beaten by a club that played better on the night.
“When you give a run on to a side like that it breeds hope, it breeds opportunity,” said Magpies coach Nathan Buckley after the game.
“What it does show is you need to be closer to your best to beat anyone.
“And that is not being discriminatory to what Gold Coast is capable of and able to produce, but at our best we think we play pretty well. We didn’t play at our best tonight.”
“(We) butchered plenty of opportunities. I could rattle them off for you. There were six, seven, eight opportunities that we really should have converted especially early and then the game changes.”
With the loss the Magpies prospects for a top four finish have taken a beating as they sit at seventh spot and just one win ahead of Port Adelaide.
Gold Coast meanwhile has earned its sixth win of the year and has clearly captured momentum as it seeks to close out the 2013 season on a high.
“To know we’ve beaten a side of that quality, it’s good reward for the boys’ efforts over the season so far,” said Suns coach Guy McKenna.
“You do that against a good side like Collingwood, it’s an injection of confidence and belief.
“That light that was at the end of the tunnel that we couldn’t see for two-and-a-half years is now glowing brighter.
“It’s not in our face yet but it’s glowing brighter. We keep working hard and we get there quicker.”
Next Saturday Collingwood will look to get back on track against the winless GWS Giants at the MCG while Gold Coast will face its next challenge when they play Carlton at home.
Here are the highlights from the game:
GOLD COAST 3.4 7.6 11.7 13.7 (85)
COLLINGWOOD 2.7 6.9 8.10 11.12 (78)
GOALS
Gold Coast: O’Meara 3, Brennan 3, Day 2, Ablett 2, Harbrow, Tape, Prestia
Collingwood: Cloke 2, Elliott 2, Swan 2, Dwyer, Sidebottom, Goldsack, Beams, Seedsman
BEST
Gold Coast: Ablett, O’Meara, Harbrow, McKenzie, Bennell, Stanley, Nicholls
Collingwood: Beams, Swan, Sinclair, Williams,
INJURIES
Gold Coast: Rory Thompson (ankle)
Collingwood: Nil
SUBSTITUTES
Gold Coast: Alex Sexton replaced Josh Hall in the last quarter
Collingwood: Caolan Mooney replaced Andrew Krakouer in the third quarter
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Hosking, Kamolins, Jeffery
Official crowd: 19,721 at the Metricon Stadium