Brisbane Lions 7.3 11.3 14.5 15.8 (98)
Gold Coast 2.2 3.5 11.6 14.12 (96)
Goals - Brisbane Lions: Bastinac 3, Robinson 2, Zorko 2, Hipwood 2, Close, Bell, Rich, Lester, Bewick, Taylor.
Gold Coast: Lynch 3, Ainsworth 2, Hall 2, Sexton, Barlow, Miller, Lemmens, Wright, Ah Chee, Schoenfeld.
Best - Brisbane Lions: Beams, Rockliff, Martin, Andrews, Zorko, Gardiner.
Gold Coast: Miller, Ablett, Hall, Barlow, Joyce, Thompson.
Injuries - Gold Coast: Swallow (ankle) replaced in selected side by Schoenfeld.
Umpires: Donlon, O'Gorman, Harris.
Crowd: 12,710 at Metricon Stadium.
It started as an avalanche in reverse. Few would have fancied the Brisbane Lions going into this QClash against the Gold Coast Suns: on paper, no match for their opponents, in either experience or talent. Yet, within 18 minutes, the Lions had seven goals on the board and had opened up a 44-point lead. By half-time, it was 46.
The query was whether the younger side could keep it up, as the game inevitably began to open up in the second half. From the second half of the first quarter to the first half of the second, the Lions had absorbed plenty of punishment as the Suns began to exert control at the clearances, dominating inside 50.
They'd withstood the barrage admirably, but in the third quarter, the avalanche began to roll back downhill, the Suns kicking seven goals to three to reduce the margin to 17 points at three-quarter time. Gary Ablett and the irrepressible Touk Miller were key to the revival, Miller kicking the first of the quarter in a minute.
By the beginning of the final quarter, it looked inevitable that the Lions would be overrun. Goals to Tom Lynch, mostly well held by the excellent Harris Andrews, and Aaron Hall reduced the margin to two points within 10 minutes. The Lions, looking spent, dug in regardless; Lewis Taylor snapped a goal against the flow.
It restored the margin to seven points, and for a few moments it looked as good as the Lions' half-time advantage. But the Suns kept surging; Lynch missed one shot then, from the same position, nailed another. A rout had turned into a nail-biter - and, amazingly, the Lions hung on for a two-point win.
Taylor's game was instructive. Far from the freewheeling, unaccountable outfit of the last few years, the Lions, under new coach Chris Fagan, have learned to run the other way - getting numbers back in defence, working for one another, putting pressure on their opponents that was practically unrecognisable.
A goal to Rohan Bewick in the shadow of half-time underlined the transformation. Taylor, who has frustrated coaches and fans to distraction since winning the Rising Star award in his first year, gave up a shot at goal with slick hands to a player in a better position. The Lions are learning to do the simple things well.
Having Dayne Beams back made a big difference too. He had 21 possessions to half-time. For the Suns, Gary Ablett had 14 and the irrepressible Touk Miller 16, but they had far less time and space to deliver them, denying key forwards Tom Lynch and Peter Wright the chance to capitalise.
For the Suns it was a case of too little, too late, unable to bridge the gap opened up by the Lions' explosive start. To say they'd been caught napping perhaps doesn't do enough credit to the Lions' pressure and, later, their mental steel in holding on after the Suns regained their composure and control.
For the first half of the second quarter, they threw all they had at the Lions, working them over at the stoppages and dominating inside-50 entries. But they couldn't make further inroads on the scoreboard. The Lions held firm, and reaped the rewards: Daniel Rich fired a dart through the Suns' heart; Ryan Bastinac added two more.
It took until the final seconds, and the Lions needed a little luck to hold on, but in the end, it was enough, and it was luck that they'd made their own. For Chris Fagan, it couldn't be a better start to his long-awaited senior coaching career.
