A stellar midfield performance from Patrick Karnezis has led the Lions to a hard fought 17.17.119 to 13.8.86 win over the Sydney Swans in the NEAFL.
Brisbane’s midfield gained an early ascendancy in gusty conditions, but were wasteful in their forward entries. A Stefan Martin goal after the quarter time siren saw the Lions go into the first change only two points down.
It took a moment of crumbing class from Ash McGrath to energize the home side in the second, as his gather and offload to Martin sparked a run of three quick fire goals. Sydney withstood the pressure before hitting back with two goals of their own, as Brisbane ended a tense and bruising first half eleven points to the good.
Karnezis had been the standout player in the first half, dominating the clearances and posing a threat up forward, and it took only a handful of third quarter minutes for the midfielder to record his fourth goal of the match. Brisbane had stuck to their guns all day, determined to run and spread Sydney off their feet, and they began to reap the rewards in an impressive third term. The likes of McGrath, Martin and Todd Banfield all peppered the goals further, and by three quarter time the Lions had blown out to a 48 point lead.
The Swans hit back in the last, taking the game on and throwing everything at the hosts, but Brisbane remained composed. They defended well and slowed the game down when necessary, and eventually ran out deserved 33 point winners.
Karnezis was the stand out performer, amassing 32 possessions to go with his four goals, and was well supported in the middle by the likes of Lester and Newell, and up front by Martin and Aaron Cornelius.
Coach Leigh Harding was full of praise for the hard running midfielder, and stressed the importance of the defensive aspects of Karnezis’ game.
“The pleasing thing with Patty is that he’s had four tackles as well, so he’s putting on some defensive pressure but he’s also getting it offensively as well. It was a really pleasing game from Patty.”
With only two home and away fixtures remaining, Harding has his sights firmly set on a finals onslaught, and believes the side are in good shape heading towards September.
“We’re likely to finish in the top one or two, and that’s a credit to the boys for being able to get themselves into that position, but now we need to finish off these last couple of games. We’ve got Mt Gravatt and GWS, then we can reload for the finals.”
Best: Karnezis, Lester, Newell, McGrath, Martin
Goals: Karnezis 4, Cornelius, Martin 3, Banfield, McGrath 2, Polkinghorne, Radford, Weardon 1
