By Bruno Visentini
Coburg put up a fight in Sunday’s match against Southport at Piranha Park, but ultimately it was the Sharks who continued their winning ways, extending their current streak to six in what was best described as a true battle between the two sides and ended with an 11-point margin.
The match was the third meeting between Coburg and Southport since the Sharks joined the VFL, but the Lions first time have hosted the traditional Queensland powerhouse club. The two previous matches saw Southport win convincingly, a 106-point thrashing in 2022 and a 40-point win in 2021 where Southport piled on 8 goals to 1 in the final quarter.
It was always going to be a difficult task to take down a strong Southport outfit that contained 5 players who played for the VFL in this year’s AAMI State Game against the SANFL, but Coburg’s improvement over the course of this season meant anything was possible in this match. The game got off to a slower than usual start with a not a lot of scoring, but play was still flowing freely regardless.
Both sides traded a behind each, but Southport came out of nowhere in the ninth minute to kick an unbelievable first goal when Rhys Clark launched the ball from 90 metres out with the wind behind his back and it went past a pack of players to roll through for a major. After ten more scoreless minutes Coburg looked to have scored a goal of their own, but a dribble kick from Kyle Weightman in a tight spot was judged to have skimmed the goalpost.
The Sharks capitalised on their fortunes and extended their lead not long after as Will Sexton kicked a goal of his own, and another behind had the margin at two goals until the dying moments of the quarter. Some dash from Kyle Weightman sparked a link up play that culminated in an Ingo Dammersmith mark just seconds before the quarter time siren. Needing a goal to remain in the contest after a low scoring first quarter, Dammersmith’s set shot was accurate and saw the Lions finally on the board, trailing 1.2 (8) to 2.2 (14) at the first change.
The second term was an even lower scoring affair with Southport kicking the only goal of the quarter at the 8-minute mark. The Sharks had the upper hand early on, before Coburg began to gain some ascendency around the middle of the quarter. Unfortunately though, the Lions weren’t able to turn that into anything meaningful beyond some more behinds.
Southport suffered the same issue when momentum swung back in their favour, adding two behinds in quick succession right before the half time siren to lead by 12 points at the main break, with Coburg scoring 1.5 (11) to Southport’s 3.5 (23). Given the low scoring nature of the first half, the 12-point margin was a bigger deficit than it usually is. However considering Southport lead in key areas like inside 50s (28-21), total clearances (24-12) and free kicks (15-10 at half time and 11-3 at quarter time), it showed that Coburg were still alive in this contest and capable of matching it with an opponent many would’ve tipped to be ahead by more.
The second half saw conditions intensify and for Southport who were kicking towards the Bell Street end again with the wind in their favour, it was an important factor in a higher scoring term than the first two. The conditions opened up shots from further out and in tighter spots for the Sharks while Coburg’s shots became more difficult. Southport added a rushed behind in the first minute but not long after they would be more accurate as Jay Lockhart let a set shot fly at goal.
A drier 9-minute patch began with both teams only scoring a behind each in that time, but Southport inflicted more pain when Hugh Dixon won a blocking free kick up forward and calculated his kick perfectly with the wind to get the lead out to 25 points. A Coburg push up forward was briefly halted as Donovan Toohey came off the ground bleeding from the face, later ruled out with concussion, but the extra time for Southport’s defence to prepare meant little as Luke Bailey pinpointed a pass to Will Bella who kicked a beautiful set shot that atoned for an earlier miss in the quarter.
Coburg were almost able to kick another crucial goal with a fast-moving chain of passes, but the wind impacted the Lions’ ability to turn the chain into anything more than a behind. Southport were quick to get the ball down and a goal to Jacob Dawson had the margin at a game-high 26 points, with the game in danger of being all but locked up if they could snag a couple more goals before the last break.
Fortunately for the Lions though, the third quarter ended in similar fashion to the first with Josh D’Intinosante being left alone to take an uncontested mark inside 50 seconds before the final siren. His goal put the margin at 20 points, firmly within reach for the Lions. With the wind aiding Coburg in the last quarter, it was up to the team to rise to the occasion.
The Lions came out of the blocks with plenty of intent early, finding their way up forward and eventually kicking the first goal through Mitch Podhajski for the right start of the quarter. Minutes later, Ingo Dammersmith joined the goalkickers with one of his own and the margin was down to just 7 points. Unfortunately the Sharks had other ideas, immediately replying back with a goal just seconds after the next centre bounce.
Things became more troublesome for Coburg when after a Southport behind, a wayward kick was intercepted by Jack Sexton who put Southport a comfortable 20 points up halfway through the final quarter. The Lions got back in control of the contest with plenty of entries inside 50 and a goal to Braedyn Gillard with had meant a comeback was still on the cards with how long was left in the game.
Coburg spent the rest of the game attempting to breach Southport’s defence with sheer brute force, but try as they might, it wasn’t as easy as it could have been. The Southport backline came up too strong, marking most of Coburg’s entries inside 50. The Lions gradually netted three behinds before the end of the match and pulled the margin below two goals, but the Sharks stood the test of time to hold on and win by 11 points. The final scores were Coburg 6.11 (47) to Southport 8.10 (58).
Josh May was chosen as Lion of the Round with 21 disposals in his second game, providing versatility around the ground in such a tight contest. Ingo Dammersmith’s two goals made him the Lions’ only multiple goalkicker while Joel Trudgeon lead the way for the match in disposals with a whopping 45 to go with 10 tackles and 9 clearances.
Next Sunday at 1:05pm the Lions will take on our local rival in the Northern Bullants for the first time this season. A win in the Battle of Bell Street will be crucial towards climbing up the ladder in a season full of improvement, and a strong showing from the Coburg faithful at Piranha will hopefully go a long way to spur on the boys towards a third victory for the season.
