Roos boom to decider
Second half dominance proves vital
Coolaroo will carry the hopes of Toowoomba in Saturday’s Allied Pickfords Cup grand final after a dominant preliminary final victory.
Coming up against Warwick, the Roos unleashed an unstoppable burst in the second half, scoring nine unanswered goals to record a convincing 14.10 (94) to 5.8 (38) victory.
The two sides went toe-totoe throughout the opening stages, with Coolaroo leading by as much as 17 points in the opening term, only for the Redbacks to fight their way back to trail by eight at the end of the quarter.
Coolaroo again opened up a 15-point advantage throughout the second, but Warwick again responded, with player-coach Ben Heppell’s fourth goal of the half keeping them within three at the main break.
It was all one-way traffic from that point on, as Coolaroo booted home six third quarter goals to lead by 37.
“It’s a very exciting time for the club,” coach Darren Copland said.
“The first half was nice and tight, but we did well in the second half.
“We just kept trusting our processes, showed discipline and it was really just focusing on our game and the way we wanted to play. As soon as we did that we were fine.
“We showed a few nerves in the first half and Warwick was very competitive as we expected. We were able to regroup and come out better in the second half.
“I knew we needed at least five goals (in the third quarter) to be safe, and we got six. That was able to break any of their momentum.”
UNI PRODUCES IN LOW SCORING AFFAIR
As most predicted at the start of the senior women’s season, Toowoomba will meet University in the decider, following the Cougars preliminary final at the weekend.
In a game centred around defence, University came out on top of South Toowoomba with a 6.12 (48) to 4.4 (28) victory.
Coming in as underdogs, the Bombers were able to keep things close throughout the first half, trailing by one and two points at the end of the first and second quarters respectively.
It now sets up a rematch of last year’s decider, where Toowoomba was able to win its fourth straight flag courtesy of a 40-point victory.