Lions move top in the QAFL after heavy win
CAMERON O’Leary bagged five goals and Liam Jones snuck forward for two as Palm Beach Currumbin moved top of the QAFL table with a 118point thumping of Mt Gravatt.
Lions newcomer O’Leary was nigh-unstoppable inside 50 and could have had more goals to his name, as the hosts piled on 39 scoring shots to the Vultures’ 11 in a clinical display of free-flowing football.
O’Leary stole the show with his five across half-forward but it was a complete team performance from the Lions, who had 10 individual goalkickers including six players with multiple majors.
After surviving midgame momentum shifts in the opening two matches of the season, Palm Beach kept the foot on the throat throughout in a pleasing sign of team cohesion.
“It was a good example of our game plan working and everyone sticking to it,” said Palm Beach vice-captain Tyler Cornish, who also got forward to kick three goals.
“After the first couple (of games) where we played a good first half but couldn’t go on with it, this time we put a team away. We played four quarters of good footy which is pleasing.”
Following narrow wins over Surfers Paradise and Morningside, the Lions got off the leash against the Vultures and now Cornish wants to see more of the same in coming weeks as the fixture tightens up.
Palm Beach plays Labrador, Broadbeach and Redlands over the next month in what looms as a perfect test of where the Lions sit in the QAFL pecking order.
“It will be good for us to see where we’re at. We’re confident going into all of those games,” Cornish said.
Reigning premiers Broadbeach sent a statement to the rest of the competition by stifling the high-powered Redlands attack on Saturday.
QAFL leading goalkicker Matt Hammelmann was kept to just two goals as the Cats ran out 10.11-71 to 6.12-48 victors on the road.
The crucial win away from home against a team many believe will feature heavily in September proves the Cats are still the benchmark side in the competition.
At Sir Bruce Small Park, Labrador responded to its laststart loss to Broadbeach with a 44-point win over Surfers Paradise, which keeps the Tigers in touch with the top four.