For three quarters, North Melbourne’s Levi Greenwood kept Gary Ablett under control, but as champions do, the Gold Coast SUNS skipper came to the fore when it mattered most as his side won for the first time at Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Kangaroos surged at the GC SUNS a number of times after the visitors skipped out to a six-goal lead at quarter time, but it was Ablett who sealed the deal in the final term as he kicked three of his teams five goals down the stretch as his young side recorded a comprehensive 43-point win.
Jaeger O’Meara was the other prime mover in the fourth quarter. He ripped the Roos to shreds with 14 of his 26 disposals coming after the final break in a stunning assault as the SUNS kicked away in the closing stages of the match.
Ablett said the SUNS had set themselves to perform better away from home, with this the club’s first win in seven appearances at Docklands.
“It’s great to come down to Melbourne and get a win down here,” Ablett told Fox Footy.
“Our past results (in Melbourne) haven’t been great. It’s been a real focus or us to start playing well away from home.
“We thought we did a lot of things well. It was just patches in quarters we let ourselves down.
“We needed to stay switched on, stick to our structures and we did that.”
After a five-goal haul against GWS last week, forward Tom Lynch was again a standout.
The young vice-captain booted two goals and finished with 21 touches and eight marks. Five of those marks were contested; his team had just seven in total while no other player on the park grabbed more than two.
Lynch said the service from his midfield was a big reason behind his outstanding efforts the past fortnight.
“The boys are starting to get it in there with the good kicks up the ground, like O’Meara, Ablett, guys like that, it’s coming in more freely,” Lynch said.
The SUNS are now 5-2 and entrenched in the top eight, with struggling St Kilda to come in two weeks’ time after the bye.
“We sort of built up during the week that this is a must-win game that can really set up our season,” Lynch said.
“We won the ones we had to (leading in to this game) and sort of got pantsed by Hawks and Freo.
“We haven’t won here yet, so it’s another one to tick off.”
