Australian Football

Match Report

Saturday's game between Melbourne and the Gold Coast Suns at Traeger Park in Alice Springs wasn't exactly a game of two halves, but it wasn't far from one, with the Suns looking the better side by some distance until the 10-minute mark of the third term, and the Demons, sparked by a goal from Jeff Garlett, taking complete control from that moment to turn a 30-point deficit into a 35-point win. 

The Suns got off to a flyer, with Sean Lemmens and Aaron Hall both finding the big sticks within the first six minutes. Melbourne got on the board a couple of minutes later when Christian Petracca marked and received the benefit of a 50-metre penalty that took him to the goal square. He did not miss from there, but the next 11 minutes produced nothing more than a behind to the Suns. The drought was broken by Brandon Matera, who snapped a nice goal that put Gold Coast ahead by 13 points. James Harmes answered for the Demons but a second major to Brandon Matera had the Suns ahead by 16 points at the first change. 

An easy 'out the back' goal to Mitch Hannan had Melbourne back within 10 points in the first minute of the second term, but from there the Demons struggled to find the goals despite numerous opportunities. All up over the next 25 minutes, they had seven shots at goal but every one of them missed, with Jeff Garlett the main culprit, kicking three of them, while Tomas Bugg also missed two. In contrast Gold Coast had five shots in the same period and nailed three of them, one each to Tom Lynch, Kade Kolodjashnij and Peter Wright, and the margin was 23 points in the Suns' favour late in the term. Just before half time, Garlett kicked a goal to make partial amends for his earlier inaccuracy but Gold Coast still lead by 17 points at the half. 

With the breeze at their backs in the third quarter, the Suns made a strong start to the second half with majors to Michael Barlow and Peter Wright taking them out to a game-high 30 points seven minutes in. But after a scoreless arm-wrestle over the next five minutes, the tide turned drastically. A Gold Coast turnover saw Garlett kick his second goal and that sparked Melbourne into a run of goals that saw contributions from Nathan Jones, Harmes twice and Jones again as the Demons suddenly went into the last change with a two-point lead. 

Melbourne took a lead, momentum and a breeze into the final term and stamped its authority on the match with majors in the first 10 minutes to Alex Neal-Bullen, Hannan and Jack Watts. The Suns put up brief resistance with a goal to Alex Sexton that cut the margin to 14 points, but another three in a row for the Demons through Hannan, Garlett and Garlett again basically sealed the match. From there the sides evenly split the game's final six goals as Melbourne cruised to a 35-point win.

Best for the Demons included Jones (27 possessions, three goals), Jeff Garlett (five goals, eight marks) and Clayton Oliver (35 touches) while Aaron Hall (29 disposals, seven marks) stood out for the Suns.

The win places Melbourne ninth on the ladder, only percentage out of the top eight, with a bye and then the traditional Queen's Birthday match against Collingwood to come. Gold Coast has slipped to 16th with a 3-7 record. The Suns will host West Coast (sixth, 6-4) at Carrara next Saturday afternoon.

GOALS
Melbourne: Garlett 5; Jones, Harmes, Hannan 3; Tyson, Petracca, Neal-Bullen, Watts
Gold Coast: Matera 3; Lynch, Wright, Barlow 2; Sexton, Lemmens, Kolodjashnij, Hall

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Melbourne: Oliver, Jones, Hibberd, Lewis, Garlett, Melksham
Gold Coast: Hall, Swallow, Kolodjashnij, Leslie, Matera

BEST - THE AGE
Melbourne: Jones, Lewis, Garlett, Watts, Hibberd, Oliver
Gold Coast: Hall, Witts, Lynch, Leslie, Matera, Swallow

INJURIES
Melbourne: Nil
Gold Coast: Nil

UMPIRES: Williamson, Jeffery, Glouftsis

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Fox Footy

COMMENTATORS: Adam Papalia, Dermott Brereton, Alastair Lynch, Ben Dixon