Played at Gold Coast Stadium on Saturday as the curtain raiser to the St Kilda-Melbourne AFL clash, the GCFC looked gone when Oakleigh kicked a goal at the 21-minute mark of the final term to hit the front.

With a strong breeze against them, the GCFC kept fighting and gave themselves a chance to win the match when Thompson marked about 35m out deep in the pocket on his wrong side. Thompson received his opportunity after some impressive work from Trent Manzone.

With every Oakleigh player behind the ball, a lightning quick Manzone gathered the ball on the half-forward flank and weaved around a couple of players in a Chris Judd-like fashion before delivering it to Thompson.Under enormous pressure at the 27-minute mark,

Thompson calmly nailed the goal much to the joy of his teammates and a vocal pro-Gold Coast crowd.

The siren soon sounded which signalled a hard fought 7-13 (55) to 7-10 (52) victory.

Impressive midfielder Todd Grayson was the Coast's best, while winger Joseph Daye, Mitch Harley and Hamish Watts were all prominent. By Nick Smart, Courtesy of Gold Coast Bulletin. Check Monday's paper for full match report.