Broadbeach conjured an amazing finish with five goals in the last 10 minutes to overrun a valiant Aspley in their Round 2 northern conference clash at Graham Road today.
The Hornets looked set for a stunning victory when they led by 16 points entering time-on of the final term, only for some outstanding tackling efforts by Aaron Rolfe to lift the Cats.
The two sides went almost goal-for-goal through the first half, with Broadbeach holding a slender 12-point lead at the main break.
The Cats extended that to 24 points midway through the third term, before the Hornets came storming back largely through the powerful influence of Matt Shir.
With Declan Bevan providing a strong marking target up forward and Reece Toye winning plenty of hard ball under the pack, Aspley seemed to have the upper hard.
That’s when Rolfe worked his magic, inspiring his teammates with a number of fierce chases and tackles that produced turnovers and goals for his side.
“He won some crucial contests and kicked one fabulous goal,” admired Cats coach Matt Angus.
“During the last quarter we didn’t let the scoreboard affect what we were trying to do and at no stage did we give in.
“It’s a reflection of the hard work, fitness and belief the players had.”
Angus was also quick to heap praise on the Hornets.
“You certainly have to give Aspley a lot of credit for the way they played,” he said.
Aspley’s defence was solid for much of the day, with skipper Robert Copeland doing an outstanding job in beating his own opponents and regularly getting across to destroy the ball when it was near gun Broadbeach full-forward Jason Eagle.
Too often the Cats bombed the ball high to the strongly-built left-footer, and scored goals when they arrowed their passes better into the attacking 50m arc.
Tall Noose recruit Brendan Page did a solid job for the Hornets, as did Mayne recruit Jeff Teale, and Bevan was dangerous with four goals. However, the side’s momentum was stopped when the untiring Shir left the field to bind a nasty head wound during the last quarter.
In the finish it was the final term heroics of Rolfe and a strong cameo in the ruck by regular key position player Darin Stewart that got the Cats home.
Recruits Griffin Underwood, Martin Curtis and Kallen Geary were again outstanding for the Cats throughout the game.
Last Modified on 11/04/2011 15:44