The Gold Coast SUNS have been defeated by the Casey Demons by 76 points at the Austworld Centre this afternoon.
The ladder leading and undefeated Demons flexed their muscles on a perfect afternoon for football.
The SUNS were on the backfoot early in the contest, giving up five goals before Oskar Faulkhead opened Gold Coast’s account.
Ruckman Ned Moyle was a shinning light all day for the SUNS, winning the ruck battle and continuing his impressive form.
Moyle had 10 disposals, four clearance and 34 hitouts to help the SUNS win the clearances for the match.
Rory Atkins had a second consecutive 30+ disposal game, while Darcy Macpherson recovered from a slow first half to finish with 22 disposals and seven clearances.
Atkins finished the game with 34 touches and 10 marks, as Charlie Constable continued his good form with 19 disposals, five tackles and four clearances.
Josh Corbett made a successful return from a hip injury, joining Alex Sexton as the SUNS second quarter goal kickers.
Patrick Murtagh, Mac Andrew and Rory Thompson battled hard all day but struggle to contain a potent and AFL-tested Demons forward line.
Andrew finished with 12 disposals and eight marks, while Thompson had 13 touches and nine marks.
The third quarter started brightly with Rhys Nicholls, Sam Day and Hewago Paul Oea each kicking a goal in the first 15 minutes to put pressure back on Casey.
Casey were able to take control through forward 50 entries, which they won 54 to 44, while also being accurate in front of goal.
Particularly in the third term where they piled on eight goals from 11 scoring shots.
Sexton kicked his second to close out the SUNS best quarter on the score sheet.
Elijah Hollands was the SUNS only goal scorer for the fourth quarter, in a term where the four behinds were kicked.
The SUNS will travel to Prianha Park next week where they take on the Coburg Lions on Sunday at 2:15pm.
Gold Coast SUNS 2.2 4.5 8.9 9.13 (67)
Casey Demons 7.6 12.12 20.15 21.17 (143)
BEST: Rory Atkins, Ned Moyle, Charlie Constable, Darcy Macpherson
GOALS: Oea 2, Sexton 2, Corbett, Day, Nicholls, Hollands, Faulkhead
