Back in Round 13, the Brisbane Lions Reserves met Southport at Fankhauser Reserve in what was a top-of-the-table clash.

The Lions blew the Sharks off the park with a stunning opening 12 minutes; kicking five goals and restricting the home team to a solitary forward 50 entry.

That blistering start paved the way for an eventual 79-point win - Southport’s biggest loss of the year.

The June victory was inspired by a four-goal first half from Jared Polec, 33 Claye Beams touches, and Aaron Cornelius’ 11 marks and five goals.

Fast forward two months and the Lions clashed with the Sharks on Saturday for the second time in 2012, under decidedly different circumstances.

While the Lions were on a three-game winning streak before the sides’ last match-up, on Saturday they were coming off a disappointing loss to Sydney.

They were also without June chief destroyers Polec (injured) and Beams (seniors), and minus a host of other regulars (they fielded 14 listed players compared with 18 in Round 13).

The match was a Qualifying Final, played in bright sunshine at Coorparoo as opposed to cool and cloudy conditions on the tourist strip, and in complete contrast to the sides’ last meeting, Southport bolted from the blocks, kicking five first quarter goals to lead by 29 points at the first break.

Despite the obvious disparity between the two games, there was one main parallel; the Lions emerged victorious, much to the delight of Coach Nathan Clarke.

“I’m very happy to win, I was getting emotional at times during the game-it was pretty intense, but we got there in the end,” Clarke enthused.

“After quarter time it was a really good effort. I didn’t give the boys a blast during the break, even though we were outplayed. We just had to adjust to a few things and to the boys’ credit they did that brilliantly.”

The Lions whittled away the deficit during the middle stages of the match before coming home with a wet sail; booting seven unanswered majors in the final stanza to run out 14.18 (102) to 9.13 (67) winners.

Clarke says he knew troops were in with a chance at the last break, but the emphatic nature of the win surprised him.

“I said to the guys at half time, if we’re within two or three goals at three-quarter-time we can run over the top of them, and that’s precisely what we did.

“To be honest though, I didn’t expect us to win by anywhere near that much. The boys finished full of run and full of courage, it was a truly amazing effort.”

Clarke, in his second year at the helm, singled out the Lions’ top-up players for praise-many whom are affiliated with the club’s junior development academy.

“We had some really good quality kids who all really stood up,” Clarke explained.

“Young Rhys Power was amazing. We threw him into the middle of the ground and he’d go and body up on a really good midfielder for Southport, and did a wonderful job. Isaac Conway, Josh Smith in defence, they were all so composed in the finals atmosphere.”

“It was a good win for the club, but also a really good win for the future of the club. Seeing some of these kids that tare potentially draft prospects playing so well in finals footy, you’ve got to be happy to see that if you’re a Lions supporter.”

The Lions now turns their attention to this week’s clash with minor premiers NT Thunder in the Top End.

The Lions will go into the game as underdogs, but Clarke was bullish about his team’s chances.

“I think we can go up there and win, absolutely. Why can’t we go up there and knock them off? ” Clarke said.

“There’s no better passage to a Grand Final than to knock off NT in NT. We’re going up there thinking we can win; especially considering the way we finished today. We’re confident, no doubt about it.”

FINAL SCORE

Brisbane Lions  1.1    3.8    7.9     14.18 (102)
Southport           5.6    6.8    9.12    9.13 (67)

LIONS GOALS
Docherty 3, Cornelius 2, Buchanan 2, Bartlett 2, Dyson , Michael, Banfield, Stiller, Karnezis

LIONS BEST
Buchanan, Stiller, Michael, Docherty, Wearden, Cummins