Australian Football

Match Report

The Sydney Swans made sure of a top four birth and a double-chance in the finals with a big win over Gold Coast at the SCG on Saturday night. But the lost came at a cost with Kieran Jack straining a medial ligament and being subbed out of the match at quarter time. The injury is likely to see him miss three weeks, meaning his only chance of playing again in 2015 would be in the Grand Final. The Swans received further bad news in the days after that match, with star forward Lance Franklin ruled out of the first week of the finals with a mental health condition. 

Sydney got off to a flying start on Saturday night's match, virtually sealing the result in the first quarter. Isaac Heeney got the ball rolling with a goal at the three-minute mark and Josh Kennedy followed up with another six minutes later to take a 13-point lead. Dan Hannebery and Kennedy scored another brace of goals at the 14 and 17-minute marks, and Dean Towers and Harry Cunningham closed out the term with another pair of goals giving Sydney a 37-point quarter-time lead. 

The Suns turned things around to a large degree in the second quarter, with goals to Tom Lynch, Trent McKenzie and Charlie Dixon cutting the margin to just 20 points half way through the term. The two sides alternated goals after that and the Swans were 22 points to the good at the long break.

Gold Coast attacked heavily at the beginning of the third term and could have made things very interesting with straight kicking but a goal to Lynch was a accompanied by a miss to Danny Stanley and a rushed behind. Brandon Matera and Jarrod Garlett added further behinds and the Suns were within 14 points midway through the quarter before majors to Sam Reid and Heeney saw Sydney's lead back out to 28 at 'orange time.

Sydney quickly put the result beyond doubt in the first 10 minutes of the final quarter, with goals to Adam Goodes, Kurt Tippett, Reid and Dean Towers. McKenzie then got one back for the Suns, but the Swans closed out the match and the home and away season with four of the last five majors to win by more than 10 goals.

The Swans' best included Tom Mitchell (36 possessions and 12 tackles) and Kennedy (31 touches, two goals), while the Suns were well-served by Aaron Hall (31 disposals and five marks) and Danny Stanley (22 touches and a goal). 

Sydney will now head to Subiaco to take on Fremantle in a Qualifying Final on Saturday. A win in that match would give the Swans a week off and a home Preliminary Final. A loss will see them host either North Melbourne or Richmond in week two of the finals. 

For the Suns, 2015 was a year to forget with skipper and star Gary Ablett plagued buy injury and playing only six games ands the side recording only four wins and a draw under new coach Rodney Eade. Gold Coast will go into next season without Dixon and Harley Bennell, who will both be traded. 

GOALS
Sydney: Cunningham, Reid 3; Heeney, Kennedy, Towers, Tippett 2; Goodes, Hannebery, Rampe, Mitchell, Franklin
Gold Coast: Lynch, Dixon, McKenzie 2; Stanley, Garlett, Kolodjashnij

BEST - SMH.COM.AU
Sydney: Mitchell, Kennedy, Tippett, Hannebery, Reid, Towers
Gold Coast: May, Stanley, Hall

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Sydney: Kennedy, Tippett, Reid, Hannebery, Mitchell, Heeney
Gold Coast: Hall, Kolodjashnij, Miller, Lynch, Rischitelli, Stanley

INJURIES
Sydney: Jack (knee)
Gold Coast: Broughton (leg)

SUBSTITUTES
Sydney: Lewis Jetta replaced Kieren Jack at quarter-time.
Gold Coast: Luke Russell replaced Greg Broughton in the first quarter.

UMPIRES: Brown, Ryan, Jeffery

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Fox Footy

COMMENTATORS: Matthew Campbell, Mark Thompson, Alastair Lynch, Barry Hall