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PORT ADELAIDE 16.17 (113) def GOLD COAST 14.12 (96)
PORT Adelaide continued their winning ways with a hard fought 17-point victory over a resilient Gold Coast Suns team.
And once again the Power demonstrated that they are the masters of the fourth quarter, overcoming a nine-point deficit heading into the final term by outscoring the Suns 40-points to 14.
But the win has come with a price after Power midfielder Hamish Hartlett left the field in the final quarter with an injury to his left shoulder.
Making matters worse for Hartlett is the fact he will without doubt be facing scrutiny by the Match Review Panel after knocking out Gold Coast’s Seb Tape during the second quarter.
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley played down the hit after the game in his press conference.
“Yes, it was a really strong bump,” said Hinkley.
“Sebby Tape is a brave young fella, it may have been the collision on the ground that caused most of the problem.
“Hamish has clearly had a knock to the back of his head too.
“In the spirit of the game I think he was there to be shepherded. The bump, from what I saw, was a pretty fair bump.”
Tape required stitches to his head following the hit and was subbed out of the game with Jackson Allen coming into into the contest.
On a positive note, while the finals are out of reach for the Suns this year, the team has continued to show progress in their third season and will be in the thick of things next season if they can maintain that progress.
“Hopefully out of today the boys understand how close they are … to finish three shots off beating a finals side I think it shows us how far we’ve come,” said Suns coach Guy McKenna.
“We’re defending the ball better, we’re kicking a bigger score, all those sorts ofthings are slowly turning.”
Here are the match highlights:
PORT ADELAIDE 7.5 8.9 10.13 16.17 (113)
GOLD COAST 3.5 6.8 12.10 14.12 (96)
GOALS
Port Adelaide: Boak, Schulz 3, Westhoff, Wingard, Heath 2, Ebert, Young, Moore, Cornes
Gold Coast: Boston, Bennell 3, Stanley 2, Dixon, Gorringe, Hall, Hutchins, O’Meara, Sumner
BEST
Port Adelaide: Boak, Monfries, Broadbent, Ebert, Gray, Cornes
Gold Coast: Bennell, Stanley, Gorringe, Ablett, Prestia, O’Meara
INJURIES
Port Adelaide: Colquhoun (back tightness) replaced in selected side by Aaron Young, Hitchcock (hamstring), Hartlett (shoulder)
Gold Coast: Tape (concussion)
SUBSTITUTES
Port Adelaide: Oliver Wines replaced Cameron Hitchcock at quarter time
Gold Coast: Jackson Allen replaced Seb Tape in the second quarter
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Dalgelish, Leppard, Meredith
Official crowd: 18,703 at AAMI Stadium