Win lets Lions cling to home final hope
BRISBANE is a step closer to a home final after a seventhstraight victory, which has snapped another hoodoo against the Western Bulldogs.
The 14.14 (98) to 11.14 (80) Gabba win ended a run of fivestraight losses to the 2016 premiers and kept them third, narrowly behind secondplaced West Coast on percentage.
It may have come at a cost, though, after skipper Dayne Zorko exited with a hamstring injury midway through the third term.
His departure, with just three regular-season games remaining before finals, coincided with the Bulldogs’ revival as the visitors rallied from 43 points down to trail by just 17 at the break.
Early fourth-quarter goals to Eric Hipwood and Charlie Cameron looked to have sealed it, however the Bulldogs came again when Marcus Bontempelli pulled it to a 17-point game.
But Hipwood replied with his second goal of the quarter to ensure Brisbane’s eighth win from nine home games this season.
Bontempelli (35 disposals) was influential for the Bulldogs, while Jack Macrae finished with 45 disposals.
But while the effort was there, they had their first-half kicking accuracy to blame.
The loss puts them a win and significant percentage behind eighth-placed Adelaide with three games to play.
Charlie Cameron (four goals) and Allen Christensen (two) were problematic up front for Brisbane, while Cameron Rayner provided the early muscle for the Lions.
Cameron set up the game’s first with a neat tip on to Mitch Robinson (24 touches, two goals), before he snapped one himself to help the Lions to a 22-point lead at the first break.
Robinson soared for a mark
W. Hoskin-Elliott 4, B. Mihocek 2, J. Elliott 2, S. Sidebottom 2, T. Varcoe 2, A. Treloar, B. Grundy, C. Brown, J. Thomas, M. Cox, S. Pendlebury.
A. Sexton 3, B. King, 3, J. Martin, S. Day.
A. Treloar, B. Grundy, S. Sidebottom, S. Pendlebury, J. Crisp, J. Howe
A. Miles, J. Lukosius, T. Miller, C. Ballard, B. Fiorini, A. Sexton. 33,577 at the MCG.
C. Cameron 4, A. Christensen, E. Hipwood, M. Robinson 2, C. Rayner, H. McCluggage, L. Neale, O. McInerney.
A. Naughton, J. Schache 2, B. Dale, E. Richards, J. Johannissen, M. Bontempelli, M. Suckling, P. Lipinski, T. English.
M. Robinson, D. Gardiner, O. McInerney, L. Neale, C. Rayner, C. Cameron.
J. Macrae, M. Bontempelli, J. Dunkley, P. Lipinski, J. Schache. 25,831 at Gabba. and goaled on the half-time siren for a 29-point lead, which might have been more if not for Lincoln McCarthy butchering a goal that Rayner had put on a platter.
They were unable to kill off the Bulldogs in the second half, though, with a percentage boost going begging and a nervous wait on their captain ahead of games against Gold Coast, Geelong and Richmond.