BOWES THAT!?
GOLD Coast Suns man of the moment Jack Bowes celebrates his last-gasp goal to beat Carlton last night at Metricon Stadium.
His winning kick off his non-preferred left foot with 13 seconds to go gave them a 59-57 win, the Suns’ third in a row.
“It’s a pretty surreal feeling.”
THE Cardiac Kids have done it again.
A Jack Bowes snap with 13 seconds on the clock handed Gold Coast a two-point victory over winless Carlton in front of 14,176 fans who spent the final quarter on the edge of their seats at Metricon Stadium.
The 8.11 (59) to 8.9 (57) result means the Suns have now lost a game by a point and won the following three by three, five and two points.
It also means the Suns and Lions are in the top eight together for the first time.
Relieved coach Stuart Dew said both clubs could take a lot out of the game and admitted luck may have played a part.
“It was that kind of day where both clubs sit back and take a breath,’’ he said. “We were the lucky ones and we get four points for effort.’’
The Blues’ winless streak now stretches back to their last visit here in Round 19, when they stunned a Suns outfit coming off the best win in club history over Sydney.
As a spectacle, that day was about as bad as footy gets and yesterday wasn’t much better on the skills front.
But it was a pleasure to watch Carlton’s No. 1 draft pick Sam Walsh at work, while midfielders Patrick Cripps and Touk Miller waged a battle for best-on-ground honours.
The difference from this match and the last was the intensity, especially in the final moments.
There were few highlights but Blues veteran Dale Thomas provided one midway through the final quarter when he took a flying one-handed mark on the shoulders of Peter Wright.
It summed up Wright’s day. He kicked a beautiful goal from the boundary line in the opening quarter to showcase his immense talent but was rarely spotted again until Thomas used him as a stepladder. He was in the spotlight again with seven minutes to go when he fumbled a mark over the goal line.
The dying stages were tense for both coaches as the Blues hung doggedly to a four-point lead, while Gold Coast sent a barrage of footy inside their attacking 50.
There were mistakes galore until Bowes calmly delivered his pre-match prediction by pouncing on a loose ball and sending a left-foot snap over his shoulder from 15m out.
“Bowesy joked about snapping one on his left foot in the warm-up, actually, when we were mucking around in the rooms,’’ Dew said.
The Suns were a man down for over half the game after wingman Wil Powell was concussed in the 23rd minute of the second quarter.