TAFL’s brave Lions fall to fast- finishing Swans
AN IMPROVING Townsville City Lions faded away late in their round four clash with the Curra Swans to fall to a 14.12 ( 96)- 10.5 ( 65) defeat.
Curra were coming off a bye last round and showed some early signs of rust as the Lions fired their way to a 26- 10 lead after the opening term.
Things turned around in a major way after the break with the home side kicking six goals and keeping the Lions scoreless to build a 13- point lead at the main break.
The Lions regained the lead in the third quarter before Curra kicked into high gear and exploded for seven majors in the final term.
While the Lions didn’t quite get the result they were after coach Andy Pethybridge took plenty of positives out of the game that was by far their most competitive of the 2015 season.
“We were leading after the first and third quarters and that was really good to see,” he said.
“The club has had a range of new players come on board this season and we are slowly getting back to where we were a few seasons ago.”
Curra’s Luke Bayne and Lions forward Brett Owen led the way for their teams with four goals each, with Bayne’s teammate Christopher Heagney adding three.
In the other AFL Townsville game this round, the Thuringowa Bulldogs thumped the University Hawks at Tony Ireland Stadium on Saturday.
Thuringowa’s massive 17.9 ( 111)- 4.5 ( 29) was built on five goals from veteran forward Paul Sanson and four more from prolific goalkicker Daine Macdonald, while the Hawks were led by James Gaudin three majors.
CURRA SWANS 14.12 ( 96) ( L. Bayne 4, C. Heagney 3, A. Walker 2, K. Poole, T. Bleach, M. Newton, J. Young, K. Na wia)
def TOWNSVILLE CITY LIONS 10.5 ( 65) ( B. Owen 4, J. Kane 2, B. Flanagan, D. Hooper, A. Pethybridge, J. Moulden)
THURINGOWA BULLDOGS 17.9 ( 111) ( P. Sanson 5, D. MacDonald 4, J. Ubank 3, D. Szabo 2, R. Lyness 2, R. Sullivan) def
UNIVERSITY HAWKS 4.5 ( 29) ( J. Gaudin 3, B. Cole)