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[ Southport Sharks on AFLQ Website ]
McENTEE SEWS UP SECOND SEMI FOR SHARKS Ben McEntee Sunday 20 July 2008 (uploaded Tuesday July 22) Irrespective of his form line in the lead-up, McEntee has regularly produced the goods on the big stage at the AFL venue, and yesterday was no exception. He led intelligently, marked strongly, and kicked superbly in a performance that helped seal a second semi-final berth for his club. The seven-point win put the Sharks two games and a hefty percentage ahead of Suncoast with only the four qualifying rounds remaining after next weekend’s bye. There was a frenetic finish to the game after the Sharks had been coasting by 37 points late in the third quarter. Their fourth term fadeout against a quality side struck again as the Suncoast surged back to twice hit the front in the final term. But all credit to the Sharks for hitting back twice themselves to win 15.9 (99)-13.14 (92). Southport wingman David James put on a clinic over the four quarters, dominating on his wing and running out the entire game. James has been in sensational form over the past two months and ensured the Sharks got off to a bright start yesterday. With skipper Darren O’Brien and the lively Jason Burge winning their share of the ball, the Sharks made several clean forward 50 entries and booted 4.1 to a wasteful 1.7 in a critical opening term. The Suncoast butchered several shots in front of goal, and made several bad misses through the middle stages as well. The Lions clawed the margin back to 19 points at the final change after looking gone midway through the third term, then sent Justin Sherman one-out deep in attack in the final term. The move worked a treat, with Sherman contributing four goals against Justin Kahlefeldt, who had done an excellent job earlier in the game. The Lions hit the front by a point late in the term, before a cross-goal kick in defence was turned over and the Sharks regained the lead. Sherman’s fourth put his side back in front, before the Sharks missed two opportunities, but regained the lead. McEntee then juggled a mark on the lead and kicked truly with a brilliant banana kick to put the game out of reach. Suncoast had received good service from Scott Clouston, who rebounded from an early beating by Ben Caputi to contribute three goals. PNG top-up player Peter Lavi also gave the Suncoast some spark and finished with two goals. Ruckman Joel Tippett continued his excellent form to give his side first use of the ball, while the Lions were also happy with Pearce Hanley in his second game back from injury. Fellow Irishman Colm Begley played four 10-minute quarters in his return from a long term quad complaint. Albert Proud has been the side’s midfield general for much of the year, but he was stifled by the close attention of Adam Devine. Kevin Tandogac played another sterling game in defence for the Sharks as the defensive unit kept another opponent to under 100 points. In the reserves the boys had a massive win against Mt Gravatt V Force on Saturday morning with Rory Thompson kicking 7 goals to be in the best with Marc Lock,Brad Langtry,Dane Grant,Hamish Watts,Daniel Ramage & Ryan Head. The reserves now sit two games clear on top while the seniors have a good buffer in second spot. We now all get ready for the big reunion night this Saturday night at the club 26th July then we regroup for Broadbeach at Broadbeach on Saturday 2nd August.
Jason Cotter Football Manager
Sunday July 20 Football Report
SOUTHPORT RUE MISSED CHANCES
Mt Gravatt’s 12.8 (80)-10.16 (76) triumph was their fifth in succession against the Sharks – the worst losing streak for Southport against any club in their 25 years in the State League. Both coaches were adamant the record counted for little. “Not at all,” said Mt Gravatt co-coach David Lake. “We’re not an emotional footy club, we’re not allowed to be. “At the end of the day, you have to do what has to be done, and having a good record isn’t going to change that.” Added Southport mentor Craig Crowley: “It’s different clientele every time you go out there. "Last year we had a different players out there. We didn’t even address that (the record). The players don’t feel that way (that the Vultures now have a psychological advantage).” Crowley felt strongly that his side had lost the game rather than the opposition winning it, pointing to errors and squandered opportunities in front of goal as the main reason. Certainly Southport had their chances. Sharpshooter Ben McEntee will still be mulling over his shot from 30m where he ran too close to the mark and caught the fingertips of his opponent, the ball splitting the centre but being called touched during the third quarter. And Clint Watts will be kicking himself about his miss of an open goal on the run from 25m at the 20 minute mark of the final term that would have put his side up by seven points. Mt Gravatt took the ball the length of the field without it being touched from the ensuing kick in and hit the front. Magic man Darryl White took a special mark at full tilt at centre-half-forward and kicked the ball quickly to an unmarked Jake Furfaro in the goalsquare. It would turn out to be the matchwinner. Furfaro kicked three of his side’s last four goals and finished with four himself in his best game since returning from Victoria. Mt Gravatt had trailed by 30 points at the 17-minute mark of the third quarter, but got back into the game largely on the shoulders of Rohan Bail, who lit up after being well beaten by Kapun Morris in the first half. Nathan Gilliland and Rory Lake did lots of good work in close, Will and Mick Hamill came into the game strongly, and Bill Cleary shut down danger man Brett Sinclair in the last quarter. Sam Carins was outstanding to the end and was the only four quarter performer on the day. He repelled numerous Southport attacks during the middle stages, although the Vultures could not stop Sinclair, who booted all three first quarter goals and had four to halftime. He continued to work hard to get the ball even in the midfield, but was hurt by poor disposal from his teammates in the final term. Southport wingman David James was best afield in the first half with a dynamic display as his side led by 22 points at the main break. Kevin Tandogac and Kurt Niklaus controlled things defensively, and the Sharks used the ball much better. At 10.11-6.5, they should have had the game locked up, but Mt Gravatt refused to lay down. They also had White in special form despite carrying a virus into the game. Apart from one short spell on Justin Kahlefeldt, who had the better of him, White had the most impact on the game, dominating early at half-back and creating a number of goals with his clever body use. “He was crook but he wanted to play and we just had to adjust his role,” Lake said of moving White forward at times when he had been on top in defence. Crowley was seething with his charges after the game. “I don’t think we could have played any worse in the second half and they’ve only beaten us by four points,” he said. “We kicked to one-on-one contests, we didn’t get back off the mark, we didn’t use the right options, we were never there to protect – there were that many things we did wrong. “We were just dumb, did dumb things.” However, it might not have got to that stage had they taken their opportunities. “We had at least six shots at goal we should have converted,” he said. “We should have been eight goals up at halftime, game over, put the queue in the rack. “We made those little errors and good on them (Mt Gravatt), they were good enough to capitalize on them. “Under pressure they were good, they were very good at the stoppages, they were solid at the ball, they snatched the ball off us. In the reserve grade game Southport came up trumps again in a high quality reserve grade encounter winning 15.11.101 to 5.10.40. Best players in the reserve grade victory were Hamish Watts,Luke Jenkins,Damien Charleston,Daniel Ramage & Jesse Haberfield. The reserves now play Mt Gravatt V Force next Saturday morning at Mt Gravatt at 9.15am while the seniors take on a very tough assignment playing the Lions Reserve grade at the gabba this Saturday afternoon game starts at 3.20pm. OMINOUS SHARKS RIP APART PANTHERS
All players had difficulties shooting at the southern end of the ground, despite there being little wind. Southport booted nine goals to four in the opening term and won every quarter, coasting to a 24.17 (161)-8.7 (55) victory. The Sharks midfield has come into its own in recent weeks and youngster Jason Burge bobbed up everywhere yesterday. Wingmen Daniel Hawkins and David James continued their rich vein of form, while small forward Terry Knight is playing with plenty of confidence. Danny Wise, Darren O'Brien and debutant Daniel Ramage all had solid games while Kapun Morris in the back half used the ball well out of defence. In the early game the boys had another comprehensive victory with Broc McCauley,Luke Jenkins,Damien Charleston,Lochi Moir,Hamish Watts and Mark Lynch all playing well. On top of these peformances Dane Beams,Marc Lock & Rory Thompson all peformed well for Qld against North Ballarat on the weekend in Victoria. The boys now get ready for Morningside at home this Saturday first game at 11.15am and main game at 2pm after Morningside had a 11 goal win against Zillmere on the weekend.
- SHARKS SHOW SOME GOOD SIGNS 22/06/08 - SHARKS TEAR INTO EAGLES 15/06/08 - BRENT RENOUF MAKES 22 QUEENSLANDERS 13/06/08 - SHARKS TOO GOOD FOR CATS 03/06/08 - VULTURES POWER BACK 24/05/08 - AFL TIPPETT WINS RISING STAR NOMINATION 20/05/08 - LAST-GASP 'BOMB' HELPS SECURE DRAW 18/05/08 - SHARKS RUN OFF THEIR FEET11/05/08 - WHOPPING THIRD QUARTER SETS UP BIG WIN FOR SHARKS 26/04/08 - Football Report 20 April 2008 - GRITTY CATS PUSH SHARKS ALL THE WAY 13/04/08 - WAYWARD SHARKS GET THE POINTS 06/04/08 - SHARKS GO DOWN TO MT GRAVATT 01/04/08 - PRE SEASON CAMPAIGN COMPLETED 03/08 - YOUNG SHARKS TO THE FORE 05/03/08 - SHARKS DUO MAKING WAVES 25/02/08 - PRACTICE MATCH SERIES 22/02/08 - PRE SEASON 2008 31/01/08
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