By Mathew Asciak
The Lions were unable to secure a win for club champion, Pete McEvoy, as he played his final match in front of the Coburg faithful, going down to a fast finishing North Melbourne by 58 points.
Coburg began brightly from the opening bounce, eager to apply relentless pressure on the Kangaroos midfield. The home side were unable to capitalise on some early forward 50 entries in the opening five minutes, with only one minor score to show for it. They would rue the early miss, as the away side were clinical with their first two scoring shots, gaining a two-goal lead halfway through the quarter. Jack Maibaum was solid down back, clunking a couple of intercept marks. Coburg opened their account through an instinctive snap by Josh D’Intinosante, followed by Ben Reddick a couple minutes later, cutting lead back to one goal. The Lions trailed by seven points at the first change.
Sam Lowson made his presence known at the beginning of the second term, after taking an uncontested mark, he went back and slotted his first goal since his injury lay off. The Kangas would respond instantly, however, maintaining the lead at quarter time. Aaron Clarke was proving to be a constant threat for the Lions inside 50 and he would get reward for his great work, taking a strong overhead mark and kicking truly to keep the Burgers within reach. Braedyn Gillard was the top disposal getting in first half, collecting 13. The Kangas would reaffirm control over the game, creating a 30-point lead late in the term.
The third term had goals aplenty. Coburg won the quarter five goals to three, on the back on a three-goal run courtesy of Lowson, D’Intinosante and Aaron Clarke. Ryan Sturgess also hit the scoreboard. Positioned in front of his defender as a deep entry comes inside 50, Sturgess went up strong and took a terrific, contested mark. Despite all of the Lions great work, they still trailed by 19-points at the final change.
North dominated play in the final term, keeping the Lions goaless, emerging 58-point victors. Gillard and Ben Jepson both had 20 disposals on the day, while Clarke booted a team high three goals.
Goalkickers: 3 Clarke, 2 Lowson, 2 D’Intinosante, Reddick, Sturgess
Scores:
Coburg: 2.1.(13) | 4.4.(28) | 9.7.(61) | 9.10.(64)
North Melbourne: 3.2.(20) | 9.4.(58) | 12.8.(80) | 18.14.(122)
