A crowd of 32,942 had to watch in horror as the Suns came from 35 points down at three-quarter time to hit the front with minutes left, only for young forward Jeremy McGovern to kick his third to give his side the advantage, eventually holding on for a 15.13 (103) to 15.10 (100) win.
VIDEO: Watch the thrilling final two minutes.
There were plenty of moments of brilliance throughout the Saturday afternoon classic, so let’s take a look back at the moments that made the match.
VIDEO: Captain Kennedy on target from the angle.
We all know Josh Kennedy is capable of kicking big bags of goals, and on Saturday he looked like he was in for another big day when he snapped his third from an acute angle in the second term. Chris Masten launched the ball inside 50, allowing Kennedy to nudge his opponent under the footy and run onto the loose ball in the pocket. Kennedy took a quick look at the goals and threw the ball onto his boot and kicked truly, pushing the lead out to two goals. He would go onto finish with seven goals for the afternoon.
VIDEO: Watch all of Kennedy’s seven goals.
VIDEO: Sharrod the stopper threads the needle.
Sharrod Wellingham wasn’t supposed to be playing on Saturday, with the match committee dropping him on Thursday. But with the withdrawal of Scott Selwood, Wellingham got a reprieve and was given the monumental task of handling the league’s best player, Gary Ablett. After producing a sensational first half, keeping Ablett to 11 disposals and finding plenty of the ball himself, Sharrod looked to hurt the Suns on the scoreboard, and was given the opportunity late in the third term. Shannon Hurn laced a superb pass to Wellingham who was hemmed in on the boundary line, and the for a moment did the team thing and looked for a better option inside, but nothing came. Wellingham steadied before threading the needle from the pocket to give his side a 30-point lead.
VIDEO: McGovern kicks the match-winner.
After leading by as much as 39 points, the Gold Coast surged home in the last quarter to hit the front with only minutes remaining. The Eagles had been in this situation before, eerily similar to round six against Carlton, and needed to hold firm. Enter third-gamer Jeremy McGovern. Andrew Gaff scurried onto the ball in front of the behind post, and hooked the ball over his shoulder towards goal, hoping someone would be able to grab the ball and get back the lead. Nic Naitanui, who played his best game for 2014 in his 100th AFL match, put his body on the line to tap the ball down I front of big ‘Gov’, and in the process was smashed to the ground by two Gold Coast opponents. McGovern picked up the ball from his bootlaces, and cleverly snuck the ball through for a goal underneath his lunging Suns opponents desperate fingertips. It gave the Eagles a lead they would never surrender, and perhaps a new level of confidence for the young Eagle.
POST-MATCH WRAP
VIDEO: Andrew Gaff post-match
VIDEO: Xavier Ellis post-match
VIDEO: Adam Simpson post-match
