Hornets sting Thunder Side on a mission grabs fifth spot on NEAFL ladder

A PROFESSIONAL and ruthless Aspley Hornets outfit put a fatal sting on Territory Thunder last night.

Aspley thrashed a disjointed Thunder by 79 points to grab a temporary hold on fifth position on the NEAFL ladder.

The home side went into the match in a positive mood after pushing reigning premier Southport to 11 points on the Gold Coast a week ago.

But they forgot about an opposition hunting a spot in the top four and the fact TIO Stadium is not the fortress it was.

Aspley began like a side on a mission with six goals to one in a frantic first quarter that virtually sealed the result.

The Hornets stung Thunder with some superb running football, using handball to maximum effect, teammates leading up to the ball against an opposition that refused to play man to man football and more importantly, finishing the moves with some well taken goals. Thunder was opened up by their opponents running into space and creating the loose man through a chain of handballs and spot kicking.

Small forward Will Murphy was devastating in the first half, booting four goals from limited opportunities, one of them when he caught Ben Rioli holding the ball when trying a one-two with Dave Johnston in the last line of defence.

His fifth goal at the start of the third quarter shot the Hornets to a 38-point lead and immunity from defeat, a fact hammered home when Ben Warren and Lonnie Hampton goaled to stretch the lead to half a century.

Thunder had shown signs of a mini recovery in the second term, a long captain’s goal by Shannon Rioli and an over the shoulder snap from Hugo Drogemuller positive signs.

But they were never in the game, crashing to a defeat that will echo through the walls of the Michael Long Centre with not a lot of Thunder.