ASPLEY FC - WEBSITE MATCH REPORT
ROUND 21 – ASPLEY v MORNINGSIDE – GRAHAM ROAD
Aspley coach Russell Evans saluted the culture and unity of his playing group after they posted a record club score to beat Morningside by 57 points in the NEAFL Northern Conference wooden-spoon grand final at Graham Road on Saturday.
And, in a ringing endorsement of the Hornets’ future, Evans he put up his hand to do the job again next year on a platform of building from the ground up for what will be their fourth year at State League level.
This came after they saved their very best for last when they launched a blistering 10-goal final quarter to beat Morningside 24-16 (160) to 15-13 (103) and hand the Panthers what is believed to be their first ‘spoon’ since 1960.
The Aspley total was the club’s highest in 73 State League games since they entered the then AFLQ competition in 2009, topping their 21-11 (137) against the Brisbane Lions Reserves in Round 14 last year.
Their fourth win of the year was their biggest of the year and their third biggest in history, behind only a 77-point win over the Western Magpies and a 68-point win over the NT Thunder in 2010.
Also, their 10-4 fourth quarter was their best single-quarter score of the season after their Round 1 first quarter of 8-3 against Mt.Gravatt at Esplen Oval had stood throughout the entire campaign.
It had been equalled only once, when they kicked 8-3 in the second quarter against Morningside in Round 12.
The barnstorming win ended a six-game losing streak and saw Aspley, finalists in their second State League season in 2011, finish ninth in 2012 with a 4-14 win/loss record ahead of Morningside (3-15).
Coach Evans was delighted his players finished the year on a positive night.
“It’s been a pretty tough last six weeks and yet to their credit the group has stuck together really well,” he said.
“There was no fracturing or splintering, which can easily happen when things are not going well.
“Instead, everyone kept going out and just trying as hard as they could so it was good to see them get a little reward for their effort.”
Not insignificantly, Aliir Aliir, Daniel Brown, Isaac Conway,, Fraser Eaton, Tim Higgins and Josh Wagner celebrated their first senior win in Aspley colors on Saturday.
It was a hard-fought win. Morningside led by a point at quarter-time before Aspley grabbed the upper hand by 11 points at halftime and 15 points at three-quarter time.
“We’d been pretty good all day but we continued our bad habit of dropping off for a couple of minutes every time we kicked a goal,” said Evans.
“We actually hadn’t spoken about the wooden-spoon at all during the week. It was more about the last six weeks in which we’d taken so really good steps and trying to get a win to take the next step.
“Everything just fell into place in the final quarter. It was a pretty good way to finish the year.”
But already Evans, who replaced Russell Harding as senior coach partway through 2010, is looking towards next year.
“The driving thing for me is not wanting to go out on a bad note after we’d done so well to get into the finals in my first year last year,” he said.
“It’s certainly official in my mind, although the club hasn’t given me any definite indication they want me to coach again next year.”
Evans insisted the Aspley future was enormously bright despite the limited success of season 2012.
“We’ve done a lot of good things this year and I firmly believe we’ve established a platform on which we can build some sustained success.
“We are in a great position in terms of young locals who are such an important part of the future.
“Local content is critical otherwise you spend all your life recruiting and paying players from interstate, and if you do that you’ll struggle to build any real culture and any real depth.
“The depth of your club comes from inside and sets up your future.
“We’ve certainly started to build a real culture around the place, and we’ve got some really good young kids who are going to the future of the club.”
Evans voted half forward turned midfielder Mitch McKee his best player against Morningside from half back Trent Manzone.
Matthew Payne and Micah Buchanan, often under-rated by Aspley insiders because of their enormous class, also played key roles in the Hornet’s big finish to the season with Dylan Reid.
John James did a fine shut-down job on Panther Grogan Medallist Nathan Kinch while kicking two goals himself, and after being challenged by his coach to find something special the athletic Aliir did exactly that.
The eye-catching Conway continued his exciting start to senior football, and veteran skipper Robert Copeland, expected to play on next year according to Evans, did a fine job on Morningside counterpart Kent Abey despite conceding four goals.
Payne kicked three goals on Saturday and Kristian Bucovaz two to share the Aspley goal-kicking award with a season total of 30. Copeland kicked 27 and McKee 22.
Payne, who had played every game last season with Southport before moving to Graham Road, was one of no less than eight Aspley players not to miss a game this season,
Also among this group was local ironman Matthew Davis, who made it 70 of a possible 72 games since the Hornets joined the State League in 2010 with his second full season.
Declan Bevan, who played his 50th game for the club in Round 20, also made it two full seasons and 46 games in a row on Saturday, while Micah Buchanan, Kristian Bucovaz, James Linton and Manzone also played all 18 games this year.
After four seasons in the State League Copeland and Davis, each with 70 games, top the list from Reece Toye, who was left stranded on 68 by a late-season injury.
Reid (60) and Bevan (51) are the other players to top the Aspley half-century.
Adam Hughes remains the club’s all-time leading goal-kicker at State League level with 89 despite playing only 10 games this season. Copeland (59), Jamie Sheahan (46) and McKee (42) are next best.
Last Modified on 20/08/2012 11:19