Australian Football

Match Report

In a game that's unlikely to live long in the memories of supporters of either side, Gold Coast has defeated Melbourne by eight points in front of just 17,243 fans at the MCG on Sunday. The Demons, coming of an upset win against Carlton the week before, led by a point at quarter time, but this was more to do with the Suns' poor kicking for goal than Melbourne's good play. The Suns were 2.7 at the first break, one point adrift of Melbourne's 3.2.

The Suns put their stamp on the match in the second term, with goals Tom Lynch (two), Gary Ablett and Brandon Matera answered by only one from Demon James Frawley, just before the half time siren. Each side kicked two goals in the third term, with poor kicking for goal again a "feature". The Demons kicked six behinds for the quarter while the Suns added five org their own.

When the final quarter got underway there was more of the same, each side scoring two behinds before finally, at the 15-minute mark, captain Nathan Jones goaled to reduce the Demon deficit to 13 points. But a contentious free kick to Jones' opposite number in Gary Ablett saw a goal to the Suns at he 18-minute mark to restore their three-goal lead. Teammate David Swallow followed with another major two minutes later to take the margin out to a comfortable 25 points before Melbourne scored four of the last five goals to cut the final margin back to eight points.

Best for the Suns were Ablett (32 touches and two goals) and Greg Broughton (9 marks, 25 possessions), while Melbourne was well-served by Nathan Jones (30 disposals, five tackles) and Chris Dawes (17 touches and two goals).

Gold Coast has now won three of its five matches and sits inside the top eight, with matches against GWS (at home) and North Melbourne (away) to come. The Demons have a 1-4 record and will host Sydney next Saturday before travelling to the Adelaide Oval to take on the Crows the following week.

GOALS
Melbourne: Frawley, Dawes 2; Pedersen, Kennedy-Harris, Terlich, Jones, Howe, Viney, Evans
Gold Coast: Matera, Lynch, Ablett, Swallow 2; Hall, Day, Broughton

BEST - SPORTAL.COM.AU
Melbourne: Jones, Viney, Vince, Kennedy-Harris
Gold Coast: Ablett, Broughton, Rischitelli, Hall, Thompson

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Melbourne: Jones, Viney, Dawes, Frawley, Cross
Gold Coast: Ablett, Broughton, Rischitelli, Swallow, Matera

SUBSTITUTES
Melbourne: Michael Evans replaced Dom Tyson in the third quarter.
Gold Coast: Jack Hutchins replaced Aaron Hall in the fourth quarter.

UMPIRES: Leppard, Wenn, Armstrong.

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Seven Network

COMMENTATORS: Dennis Cometti, Hamish McLachlan, Tim Watson, Nick Riewoldt