Favourites book first spots in touch finals

Thunder roll Gold Coast

FOOTBALL: Forward Anthony Grant struck a dramatic injury time winner in the Thunder’s 3-2 win on Saturday.

A fast-paced and frantic opening 15 minutes set the tone for a game Kris Hemmerling described as one of this season’s best matches.

Four goals were scored in the period with the Thunder going ahead in the third and 13th minutes before being pegged backed two minutes later each time.

“It was a fantastic match,” assistant men’s team manager Hemmerling said.

“One of the best I have seen. “It was fast-paced and frantic, both teams played some really high quality football.

“It was a great advertisement for the game.”

With the scores locked at 2-2 after just 15 minutes Hemmerling said both teams pressed ahead with a clear intent to win the game,

“The game continued at that frantic pace,” he said.

“It had a really good flow to it, both teams were evenly matched and played good possession based football.”

Having identified a potential weakness in the Gold Coast line-up Hemmerling said the Thunder changed their tactics at half-time in an effort to secure a win.

“We changed things up tactically at half-time,” he said.

“We pushed our wingers inside a little bit to give our outside backs a little more room.

“The winning goal was very satisfying because it was Travis (Cooper) and Anthony (Grant) linking up to score the goal because of that change.

“It (the style of play) is something we’ve worked on improving all season and it’s paid off for us.

“Watching the boys celebrate after the final whistle was fantastic.

“There was a lot of emotion and they’re very proud of how they’ve performed this season.”

Roar silence Thunder

The Thunder women produced another spirited performance against the visiting Brisbane Roar on Saturday.

Playing against an outfit that is able to select Brisbane’s top young talent the Thunder lost 4-1.

The Roar took a 2-0 into half-time and scored a third 60 minutes into the game.

Louise Rolfe linked up with teen Chloe Hutton to score for the Thunder in the 85th minute before the Roar added their fourth goal in the 89th minute

Photos: Kevin Farmer South West Queensland Thunder striker Louise Rolfe (right) breaks away from the Brisbane Roar defence. Rolfe scored in the Thunder’s 4-1 defeat to the Roar. BELOW RIGHT: Caitlyn Stocker sends the ball downfield.