Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
The Brisbane Lions have tightened their grip on a top-four finish on the AFL ladder with a hard-fought 42-point win over the Gold Coast Suns.
In a high-pressure contest, the Suns fought valiantly to limit the Lions for three quarters, before the home side finally broke free, running away with the game in the last term for a 14.11 (95) to 6.17 (53) victory.
Terrible finishing in front of goal and two critical errors in the third quarter sabotaged the Suns’ efforts.
First, stopper Sam Collins shanked a kick out of defence that was pounced on by Charlie Cameron, leading directly to a goal by Collins’ opponent, Logan Morris.
A few minutes later, Beau Addinsall gave away a silly 50-metre penalty to Dayne Zorko at half-back. With no one on the mark, Zorko waltzed through middle and rifled the ball through an unguarded goal square.
The Lions had most of the dominant players on the ground, with the Ashcroft brothers Will and Levi having 57 disposals between them, Zorko finishing with 25 possessions, and Morris continuing his hot run of form with four goals.
Cameron was also lively from the start, working hard well up the ground and finally being rewarded with two late goals that led to John Denver’s Take Me Home, Country Roads ringing around the Gabba.
Will Ashcroft – son of Lions legend and former Suns administrator Marcus – finished with his second medal struck in his father’s name, adding to an already impressive list of individual honours.
It was also a sweet result for the Lions’ Chris Fagan, who was coaching a club-record 248th game, surpassing triple-premiership coach Leigh Matthews.
Fagan has a real chance of joining Matthews in that ultra-elite club in September.
For the Suns, Matt Rowell dug in without hitting the heights of his efforts against GWS last week, and Ned Moyle competed manfully in the ruck with 41 hit-outs.
But effort wasn’t the issue for the Suns. Collectively, they won many key indicators on the stats sheet – inside-50 entries, centre clearances and contested possessions were all in their favour.
It was their failure to execute and lack of composure at key moments that undid them.
They also experimented again with playing blue-chip import Christian Petracca in attack for minimal return, with the former Demon finishing with just 12 disposals and failing to have an impact on the game.
The result keeps Brisbane a game clear of fifth-placed Geelong with one round to go, with the Cats having a slightly superior percentage.
The Lions will need to beat Collingwood at the MCG in the final round of the home-and-away season on Friday to ensure a top-four finish.
