The Sydney Swans reserves have suffered their first defeat of the NEAFL season going down by 36 points against an impressive Gold Coast Suns reserves side in perfect conditions at the SCG this afternoon.
The Swans trailed for the majority of the contest and two quick goals to Josh Fraser in the early stages of the last quarter sealed the game for the Suns who piled on some late goals - nine of the last 11 for the match - to run away convincing winners.
The Gold Coast reserves had a great defensive set-up which really restricted the Swans drive throughout the game, with the ball spending plenty of time in the Swans defensive half.
When the Swans did go forward, they often had to resort to set shots from difficult angles which didn’t help the accuracy in front of goal, although Mike Pyke and Harry Cunningham were both unlucky to hit the post in the first half after some impressive play.
The Swans reserves went to the long break trailing by a point after Nathan Gordon converted a goal - the Swans only one of the second quarter - on the siren having received a free kick for high-contact in a marking contest.
The second half got off to a much better start for the Swans when some increased forward pressure lead to Trent Dennis-Lane cleverly finding Brandon Jack who went back and coolly kicked a goal from 45 metres out. Moments later Tommy Walsh marked and goaled from the exact same spot on the ground and the Swans opened up a two goal lead and looked like blowing the game apart.
But the Suns didn’t give up and regained the lead late in the third quarter, kicking three of the final four goals of the quarter, with Walsh outmuscling Michael Coad to mark and kick his second goal of the term, the only resistance from the home side.
Then Fraser turned it on in the last quarter - finishing with three goals for the term - benefitting from the Swans lack of height with Mark Seaby missing after being called up to the seniors for the injured Shane Mumford.
The light SCG crowd who showed up early were treated to a show from young Suns gun Jaeger O’Meara who showed why he is so highly rated, while Nathan Gordon was influential for the Swans picking up many important touches over the course of the game.
The Swans reserves will be in action again next week as they travel to Canberra to face last year’s Eastern Conference premiers Ainslie in a repeat of last year’s grand final.
Sydney Swans Reserves 2.5 3.10 6.12 7.13 55
Gold Coast Suns Reserves 2.3 4.5 7.11 13.13 91
Goal Kickers: T. Walsh 2, J. Potter , D. McNeil , D. Lycakis , B. Jack , N. Gordon Best Players: C. Heath, T. Walsh, D. Lycakis, J. Moore, B. Jack
