North Melbourne crush Gold Coast by 59 - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

North Melbourne crush Gold Coast by 59

Darren Cartwright 11/06/2011 11:15:18 PM Comments (0)

North Melbourne celebrated skipper Brent Harvey's record breaking match in style with a nine goal win over the hapless Gold Coast at Carrara on Saturday.

Harvey pulled out plenty of party tricks for his club record 312th match, bagging four goals in North's 18.14 (122) 9.9 (63) victory before being chaired off the field.

It was also another milestone win for the Kangaroos who had victories in Harvey's 200th, 250th and 300th match.

Harvey, who made his debut in 1996, bagged a goal with 30m set shot and another on the goal line after it bounced over the head of his opponent among his 29 disposals.

He shaped the game early when the Roos banged on three goals in the opening three minutes by either kicking or assisting in the scoring opportunities.

Feeding off the good work of Harvey, Daniel Wells and Jack Ziebell was key forward Aaron Edwards who kicked five goals.

Gold Coast was bitterly disappointing.

Several individuals such as Gary Ablett, ruckman Josh Fraser and Daniel Harris worked tirelessly in tough wet conditions, but the turnover rate of their teammates was appalling.

More than a third of the Suns' disposals by foot were ineffective.

The loss was a set back for the fledgling AFL side which had built up respect in the past few weeks and especially after their honourable three goal loss to West Coast in Perth last Saturday.

The Suns defence and midfield were not accountable enough and gave North Melbourne's midfield and forwards too much space.

Wells was superb in heavy traffic and in slippery conditions amassing 33 disposals.

Ablett had a game-high 38 disposals although many of his touches were under pressure and not damaging enough.

While it's common for coaches to play down milestones and not use them to motivate a side, North Melbourne coach Brad Scott was of the opinion it should be spoken about and used positively pre-game.

Scott said wrapping up Harvey's record with a strong win was unashamedly part of the game plan.

"It's always been the way and the club does a great job honouring its champions," Scott said.

"Last week we made a big deal of it (when he equalled the record set by Glenn Archer) and spoke of the legacy we think Boomer will leave and they really wanted to honour him the right way.

"We don't go away from the things we need to do to win a game.

"I think the extra motivation for players to do their bit ... it's a really good thing to honour milestones."

Suns' coach Guy McKenna had a feeling of deja-vu when the `Roos piled on seven unanswered goals to start the match.

Last week West Coast kicked six goals before the Suns registered a major.

"It's disappointing," McKenna said.

"Take the 43 points away (the quarter time deficit) from a 59 point loss and it's 16 points.

"We didn't use the ball well and were chasing blue and white jumpers all night.

"That first quarter, our use of the ball all pointed to a not a great night."

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