Daniel's Den: football

13 April 2008

football - round 4

BRISBANE 2.2 4.6 9.10 18.16 (124)
PORT ADELAIDE 6.3 10.5 15.7 16.8 (104)

Goals:
Brisbane: D Bradshaw 5 J Brown 4 A Corrie R Hooper T Johnstone J Adcock T Notting S Black W Mills C Stiller M Rischitelli.
Port Adelaide: W Tredrea 2 D Rodan 2 C Cornes 2 J Surjan 2 S Burgoyne B Ebert S Salopek D Pearce K Cornes D Brogan D Cassisi J Westhoff.

Best:
Brisbane: D Bradshaw J Brown T Johnstone S Black A Corrie J McDonald L Power.
Port Adelaide: D Rodan C Cornes B Lade S Salopek J Surjan.

Umpires: D Margetts H Ryan S Ryan.
Official crowd: 25,205 at AAMI Stadium.

What a win last night. From a losing margin of 47 points at the end of the third quarter to winning by 20 points, after a down pour of rain!

Match report

A BLINDING nine goals to one final quarter has helped the Brisbane Lions overturn a 47-point deficit deep into the third quarter and snatch a sensational 20-point win over Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium.
The Lions won 18.16 (124) to 16.8 (104) in front of 25,205 people in a match that was turned on its head after a torrential third-quarter downpour.
Port led by 47 points when the rain hit 23 minutes into the third quarter – and were then drowned in a Lions goal avalanche, with the visitors embarking on an astounding 11 goals to one run from that point.
Daniel Bradshaw kicked five goals for the Lions and Jonathan Brown four.
Simon Black (32 possessions) and Travis Johnstone (24 possessions –18 of them in the second half) were outstanding for the Lions in the comeback.
Port were tracking for a 500-possession game at half-time as they at times flipped the ball around like the Harlem Globetrotters – with the Lions reduced to the role of spectators – but that all changed when the rain came.
The match started with Port flying out of the blocks, with three goals on the board in the first five minutes.
David Rodan (12 touches for the quarter) and Chad Cornes (nine) were everywhere, as the Lions simply could not get their hands on the ball.
When Port added an unaswered fourth goal Jonathan Brown moved into the centre to try to stem the tide. The shift served its purpose momentarily, with the Lions managing two of the next three goals – despite not seeming to be in the game at all – to hold up the Power momentum.
Anthony Corrie was the shining light for the visitors in this period, setting up Bradshaw for the Lions’ first and then opportunistically snapping the second following an error in the goal square from Michael Pettigrew.
The second term followed much the same pattern, with Port dominating possession and opening with the first goal (to the rampant Rodan), before the Lions answered through Brown, who was set up by Black.
The teams then traded goals over a 10-minute period – Rodan again for Port and Wayde Mills a floater for the Lions – before the Power grabbed a 35-point half time break with the last two goals of the term from an uncontested goal square mark to Justin Westhoff and a 50-metre Daniel Pearce set shot after the siren.
The third quarter really opened up, with the teams again trading goals through the first half of the term, the highlight a solo effort from Black which saw him win the ball out of the centre and follow up to bag one on the run from 50 out.
A string of three goals to Port, two to half-back Jacob Surjan, then saw the Power out to a 47-point lead 23 minutes into the quarter.
From that point the rain came and it all changed.
The Lions slowly started to drag their way back with the last two goals of the quarter – seemingly consolation goals at the time – but then the momentum shifted.
Goals to Tim Notting and Johnstone set the Lions on their way, and then another from Bradshaw put a real scare into the Power.
Far from responding though, Port wilted, and the Lions went on a goal rampage, with Cheynee Stiller and Rhan Hooper chiming in and then Bradshaw and Brown finishing the job with the last four goals of the game.
The win was even more meritorious given that ruckman Jamie Charman withdrew before the match with a calf injury, leaving Matthew Leuenberger to fight against Dean Brogan and Brendan Lade.