By Daniel Atamian
The sun was out and about early on a winters Sunday afternoon down at Piranha Park, Coburg, and it would be another challenge for the mighty “Burgers” as they faced off against another stacked AFL reserves side in the Gold Coast Suns for a massive Round 15 clash that saw both NAIDOC Week and Co-Captain Ryan Exon playing his 100th VFL game celebrating on the day.
The game’s general play started out as a scrappy contest with neither team being able to control the game under their terms in the opening minute with the Suns missing their opportunities to score a goal by missing their first two attempts for two points. The game’s opening goal would come off the boot of Lions young gun Flynn Gentile from a forward entry kick from Co-Captain Peter McEvoy to give Coburg the lead. The Suns would not go away however keeping the game close with their minor score not being able to convert for a major. Coburg’s forward pressure would step up and put the Suns defense under the pump with the pressure amped up further by a brilliant passage of play leading to a mark on the boundary by Lions hard-nosed midfielder Charlie Thompson who slotted in a “pearla” to extend the Lions lead further, however the Suns would fight back before the 1st quarter break by responding back to Coburg with a goal of their own.
As the game entered the second quarter the Suns; though winning the tap, couldn’t seem to get the ball to move forward as it appeared to be locked up from stoppage after stoppage, however the Suns would eventually find a way to get the ball into their forward 50 which they would capitalise on with a goal, they would respond once more with a goal off a set shot to take the lead away from the Lions. Edyn Sibbald would hit back with a goal to cut the lead from Gold Coast who would try to swing the momentum back their way, this was short lived however as Luke Nelson would kick his first from a set shot to open the flood gates as the “Burgs” would go on and score six consecutive goals; Mitch Podhajski, Flyn Gentile, Edyn Sibbald, Josh D’Intinosante (2) & Nathan Boucher, all helping the Lions get much needed breathing room to press on the Suns as they would kick a major score and try to keep the momentum their way going into the half time break. Josh Kemp would not let this be the case as he slotted through the final goal before the siren, showing the Lions meant business as their defensive unit lead by Jack Maibaum & Harry Nolan held strong to complement the Lions fierce forward pressure.
Going into the third period both sides missed their opportunities to hit the score board with a goal as the Lions would try to get the ball into their attacking 50 off the relentless forward pressure efforts Coburg seemed to be able to carry over from the first half, however it would be Gold Coast to draw first blood with a gal off a 50m penalty. Corey Ellis with a free kick after pinning his man for holding the ball would start to get the momentum moving for the Burgers as Jhye Baddeley-Kelly receive a 50m penalty free kick that would lead to an assist for Charlie Thompson’s his second major off a set shot. The celebrations and 32 point lead would not last for long find a new gear and score the next two goals in the game with one coming off a long bomb to respond back to Thompson’s goal. The ball would be locked into the Lions attaching 50, however they would not be able to convert for a major to end the quarter on a high.
Entering the final term of the game the Suns would open the game with a goal within the first two minutes. The Coburg backs tried their best to repel any forward movement by Gold Coast however some miscommunication would lead to the Suns running into an open goal to cut the lead to seven. Enter Charlie Thompson who would come in to score his third for the day which was shortly followed up by Luke Nelson kicking his second and Sibbald who kicked his third after a tackle in the Lions attacking 50 led to a set shot conversion. Thompson would stand out from the rest of the goal scorers taking out the title for the game’s leading scorer and Best on Ground as he would add a fourth for his total to go along with his 29 disposals and six tackles. The Suns would score one last goal however it would be too late as the Lions would run away with a 24 point victory in the end to cap off Ryan Exons 100th VFL game which almost saw the defender scoring in his milestone game had the goal post been 30cm further to the left to cap off a massive victory for the club as they claimed a big scalp to see their beloved Co-Captain carried off in style.
SCORES:
COB: 2.1.13 | 11.2.68 | 12.4.76 | 16.6.102
GCS: 1.5.11 | 5.6.36 | 8.9.57 | 11.12.78
Goals: (4) C.Thompson, (3) E.Sibbald, (2) J.D’Intinosante, F.Gentile, L.Nelson, (1) N.Boucher, J.Kemp & M.Podhajski
Catch more Lions action this week with our Round 16 match:
Saturday 09 July vs Werribee FC at 2:05pm (Away- Avalon Airport Oval)
#WeAreCoburg
