A dominant final quarter from the Northern Territory Thunder (18.15.123) caused the Brisbane Lions Reserves (12.14.86) to go down by 37 points at the Gabba.
The Brisbane Lions ran onto their home field determined for a win, at today’s curtain raiser, after losing against the Gold Coast Suns last week.
Thunder’s star trio, Cameron Ilett , Liam Patrick and Phillip Wills, were absent from the team line-up giving the Lions a chance to take home this round.
Brisbane weren’t phased by Thunder’s second place ladder position as they kicked off the first quarter full of confidence and flair.
The Lions played a dominant first quarter, kicking three goals in the first 10 minutes.
Thunder, soon after, kicked into gear and retaliated with three goals, however the Lions were still in front by just 2 points.
The Lions worked well as a team and communicated to seamlessly handball the footy around their opponents.
Benjamin Keays managed to steal the ball amongst a scuffle in the attacking 50 and slot a goal in the final minutes of the first term, ending the first quarter with Lions trailing by just 4 points.
It was a slow second quarter as both teams ran from end to end with no real progress on the scoreboard.
Northern Territory missed a number of opportunities to place a significant margin between the strong home team.
Thunder kicked six consecutive behinds thanks to the Lions’ strong defenders who applied immense pressure to their Northern counterparts.
NT Thunder managed to kick the first goal of the quarter in the twentieth minute but soon after the Lions struck back with a quick and easy goal from Rohan Bewick.
The Lions were still in with a chance as they entered the second half trailing by only 16 points.
It was clear Brisbane weren’t going to give up easily as they entered the third term.
Brent Staker, Reuben William and Rohan Bewick placed a few much need points on the board however a few missed opportunities caused Brisbane to lose the chance to widen the margin between their visitors.
The Thunder held their ground by maintaining possession of the footy within their attacking 50.
Both sides fought strong to gain momentum but neither team could make a significant break to end the third term.
The Lions were hard on the heels of the Thunder as they entered the final term.
Thunder was quick to put some space between the home team as they slotted a goal only minutes into the fourth quarter.
The Lions soon became overwhelmed as the Thunder gained momentum that truly damaged Brisbane’s chance of a win.
Benjamin Keays worked hard to end the game, amongst Thunder’s whopping eight goals, with a much-needed goal and a valuable 30 disposals.
Despite the Lions best efforts, they just couldn’t keep up with the NT Thunder’s dominant fourth quarter.
The Brisbane Lions Reserves have the bye next weekend before taking on the Redland Bombers in Round 21 at Tidbold Park.
LIONS RESERVES 4.4 5.5 9.9 12.14 (86)
NT THUNDER 5.2 7.9 10.13 18.15 (123)
BRISBANE LIONS
GOALS: R. William 3, R. Bewick 2, B. Staker 2, B. Keays 2, D. Warren , N. Weller , D. Daye
BEST: R. Bewick , H. Beasley , B. Staker , J. Watts , C. Wagner , R. William
