The monkey is finally off their back with the Gold Coast SUNS not only winning their fifth Toyota AFL Premiership match in two years, but more importantly their first at Metricon Stadium and the crowd of over 14,500 fans lapped up every second of the post match celebrations.
While the Gold Coast’s final winning margin was a seemingly comfortable thirty points, they were forced to work hard for the win by a gallant GWS Giants outfit in a match which kept the vocal crowd totally absorbed for well over half an hour following the final siren as fire works lit up the sky and the Club’s victory song was repeated around Metricon Stadium.
The match was a gutsy and competitive affair until the major break, however it was the home team who came out firing during the third term smashing six goals through the big sticks to all but secure the historic home win.
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Addressing the media post match, a relieved Guy McKenna said the boys secured the win by being tougher than their opponent tonight.
“We’ve only had five wins in our short history so it was fantastic for the fans and supporters. Plus it’s a bit of reward for the boys. Full credit to the Giants for sticking it to us but this is our fifth win, our first win at Metricon, and I’m happy to take it.”
Tonight will give us some confidence going in to the big final three, and we are under no illusions about how tough that will be. This week we spoke in match committee and we picked our best 22. We wanted to win. We wanted to instil confidence and belief in the boys, and we wanted something for our supporters to hang their hat on.David Swallow was all smiles, however will play no further part in the SUNS 2012 campaign with McKenna declaring he was hanging up his boots for the remainder of the season.
“It’s been a long, tough year for me personally trying to get up each week, and it’s been challenging mentally. To get the win tonight for me and for the rest of the boys, is really nice.
From here I’ll try to stay off my feet, try to stay fit and get around most the boys by playing a leadership role towards the end of the season, said Swallow.Some of the match highlights included some lively performances from Aaron Hall who’s fifteen disposals netted three goals whilst Liam Patrick once again provided a number of crowd pleasing moments.
The win was the icing on the cake for impressive Queensland debutant Jackson Allen who played strongly in his first outing for the GC SUNS.
Young gun Harley Bennell once again showed the value of his wares despite being tagged by Tom Bugg during the first half, while Captain Gary Ablett fittingly had the honour of landing the blows that brought the Giants to their knees.
Hear from your favourite Gold Coast SUNS players and join in as they sing the Club song at Metricon Stadium for the very first time.
