The Brisbane Lions reserves kicked the first four and last two goals of a highly entertaining Velocity Sports Cup Round 14 clash to defeat a gallant Redland 15.17 (107) to 12.12 (84) at the Gabba on Saturday night.

It was all the Aaron Cornelius show early as the Tasmanian feasted on the supply from a winning ruck division and midfield.

He proved too slick for Jesse Dixon and the Bombers were forced to switch State defender Josh Norman onto Cornelius within the first five minutes of the game after Norman had been earmarked for Scott Clouston.

Such was the dominance of the Lions through Joel Tippett in the ruck against Jason Paxman opening up uncontested ball for Scott Harding, Tom Rockliff, and James Hawksley that Cornelius kicked three of the first four goals, had an assist and missed from a set shot.

Redland were having trouble penetrating the now familiar Lions compressed rolling zone and when they raised their eyes when in possession from defence were greeted by Troy Selwood, Travis Johnstone, and Jason Roe strategically parked between the centre and half forward lines.

In fact it took 10min 17 sec before the Bombers had their first forward 50 entry.

Their first goal came at the 17 minute mark through Jason Eagle who drew Matt Tyler but Tyler always had plenty of assistance with Roe and Tippett zoning off to block the burly forward’s space and potential to get a run at the ball

By halftime the margin had blown out to 35 points but the Bombers were starting to get their hands on the footy especially through the hard running of Phil Carse and the defensive carry of Tom Salter.

Jeff White had an impact in the ruck and the quelling of Harding by Matt Davies, who was also dangerous when he pushed forward, got the visitors right back in the game.

The Tippett v White battle in the third quarter was a feature with both players pushing wide after the contest.

It was a terrific experience for Tippett to take the game right up to a man who played 260 games of AFL football just two days after the young Lion had been elevated to the senior list.

Davies, Carse, and Huy were high possession winners during the third quarter and Redland worked hard to narrow the gap only to have the Lions kick away late in the quarter to a 31-point lead at the break

Bombers coach Matt Francis rolled the dice and made some telling moves at three quarter time. He put Paxman back in to the ruck, White playing deep forward and Norman, who also had lowered his colours to Clouston, was let loose in the middle of the ground.

The Bombers had all the momentum through these moves with goals from White and Eagle beginning to create a bit of panic in the Lions back half.

However misses from White, Ryan Pantic, Davies, and James Charlesworth, who had been well held, were to prove critical as the Bombers - after Eagle kicked his fifth from a blocking free kick - had drawn within 10 points.

The turning point, albeit that the Bombers had plenty of opportunity, was a free kick to Travis Johnstone in the middle of the ground. The cagey former number one draft pick used all his experience to draw the free kick.

Johnson went to ground in tackle, received a free kick, and then gained a 50m penalty for Redland playing on, believing it was holding the ball.

Johnstone coolly slotted the goal and the game was safe.

It took the wind out of the Bombers’ sails and a final goal from Clouston saw the home side finish in front by 23 points, which correlated with the margin held early in the game when the Lions got the jump

Better contributors for the Lions were Cornelius, who finished with seven, had the better of three opponents and was always dangerous.

Roe was tremendous down back and pushed forward to kick a goal in the second quarter. When kicking long his disposal was a feature.

Tippett had a great battle with White and will have only have benefited from playing against that quality of opponent.

Rockliff won a number of clean centre clearances, Clouston with three goals was a mobile target, and Hawksley continued to be an ultra-consistent contributor for his team.

Top-up player Josh Breukers presented himself well and is a thumping kick, while first year Keiran King showed tremendous courage and grit on a number of occasions, especially in the second quarter when who took a solid knock to his shoulder in a critical 50-50 contest.

The brave Bombers had a number of players well up in the better ones on the ground.

The pocket rocket Davies was crashing and bashing his way through contested footy all day and his efforts over four quarters keep the Bombers in the hunt.

Carse and Salter worked themselves into the ground, Huy was creative by hand and looked at home in the level, Eagle finished with five and his work rate and second efforts were back to their best. Matt Thomson won plenty of the ball and young Adam Oxley caught the eye especially in the second quarter

The Lions move to fourth on a congested 2-5 positions on the Velocity Sports Cup ladder whilst the Bombers drop to fifth, their lowest ranking for some time.

They have dropped three of their last four games and will be looking to arrest that trend when they take on the NT Thunder in Alice Springs next Saturday whilst the Lions are away at Dittmer Park to the seventh placed Mt Gravatt. 

BRISBANE LIONS   5.6   10.11   13.15   15.17 (107)
REDLAND                 2.3   5.6       9.8        12.12 (84)

GOALS - Lions: Cornelius 7, Clouston 3, Bruekers 2, Roe, Spaclman, Johnstone. Redland: Eagle 5, Mueller 2, Pantic, Carse, Passfield, White, Charlseworth.

BEST - Lions: Cornelius, Tippett, Roe, Rockliff, Clouston, Hawksley. Redland: Davies, Eagle, White, Thomson, Huy, Carse.