On a cold and windy afternoon at Rockville Oval, the Crows have ran out 57 point victors in front of a strong Mothers Day crowd at Tor Street.
Braydon Hess kicked his first for the day in the opening minutes as the Crows controlled the game with their defensive structure. Though a short lapse in concentration saw the Lions reply with one of their own shortly after. It was a pin-point pass from Brock Aston who set up the next goal through BJ Shelton, which extended the lead to 9 points.
Nathan Cherry was able to close out the first quarter with a hard running goal as Darling Downs went into the first break leading 3.5 (23) to 1.1 (7)
It was all one way traffic in the second term as Hess and Shelton both booted their second goals with Jacob Sheath and Brock Aston setting up the attack. Hess bagged his third for the afternoon mid-term with a shimmy and fend off. Darling Downs extended their first quarter lead out to 46 points at the main break when Sam Tasker booted a six pointer on the siren.
Caboolture played a more man on man style of footy in the third term as the Crows were only able to put through the one major and that was through lively forward Braydon Hess. After Hess's fourth for the day the Lions went into shut down mode as the footy bounced from one half back to the other on numerous occasions.
With rain threatening Darling Downs hit the ground running in the last term as they looked to extend their three quarter time lead of 52 points.
The gates begun to open as the Crows matched the minutes gone with goals, firstly Ryan Neumann moved forward and provided another tall option and booted his first of the day. Neumann's first was shortly followed by Braydon Hess's fifth and then another by Full Forward Neumann.
Finn Collison joined in the party as he put in his nomination for goal of the year with a right foot check side deep in the forward pocket. Brock Aston was the next goal scorer after an impressive centre break that saw him kick truly from 35metre on the run.
Caboolture showed true Lions courage with their never-give-up attitude in the last 5 minutes, stopping the Crows run and carry. The Lions pounced when the Crows were napping and booted three goals in quick succession to cover up some of the damage.
Midfielders Brock Aston and Jacob Sheath were outstanding as was centre-half forward BJ Shelton, but best on ground honours would have to go to live-wire forward Braydon Hess with his 5 goal effort.
Coach Charlie Aston was happy with the win and gave a lot of credit to leadership of Ben Southey across half-back.
"Shelton was fantastic up forward and we gave him a lot of space but a lot of credit goes to Ben Southey across half-back who set up the defensive zone, something we have been working hard on," Coach Aston said after the game.
Darling Downs now have the daunting task of facing Coorparoo, last years premiers and the last time these two sides met the Blues were too strong winning 10.16 (76) to 1.4 (10) at Rockville Oval.
"I believe both sides will be better matched regarding size and we also have Tom Matthews and Ryan Cherry to come back, so we have a few boys up our sleeve and are good ins, "Aston said on the Round 5 match up with Coorparoo
He also said that, "We will focus on keeping our forward line open for (BJ) Shelton and Braydon Hess and we are going in confident".
Today's win see the Crows have a 2 - 2 record for 2013 and will be looking to beat last years McDonald's Shield premiers at home.
Match Result:
Darling Downs Crows 13.12 (90) def. Caboolture Lions 5.3 (33)
DD Goal-kickers: B.Hess 5, B.Shelton 2, R.Neumann 2, N.Cherry 1, S.Tasker 1, F.Collison 1, B.Aston 1
AFLQ-DD Best on Ground Award: Braydon Hess
Last Modified on 27/05/2013 08:42
