Queenscliff down another BFNL top five team in 56-point win at the Couta Bowl

The Bellarine’s hottest outfit has now beaten all teams in the top five as they used speed and forward line precision to down last season’s grand finalists in comprehensive style.

Anglesea’s Will Batson attracts heat from Jordan Monahan. Picture: Alison Wynd

A young and up and coming Queenscliff has now knocked off every other challenger in the BFNL top five following a comprehensive 56-point win which saw Anglesea tumble to fifth on the ladder.

After coughing up just 51 points in Round 4 against Modewarre, the Coutas have lifted their scoring output significantly since to rack up its fifth score of 100 points or more from its past six matches — knocking off Geelong Amateur, Torquay, Barwon Heads and now Anglesea along the way.

The club has a goal of locking down 600 social members this year and that benchmark seems an easy get with the kind of electrifying footy the Coutas are playing under Heath Jamieson, winning 15.19 (109) to 8.5 (53) in icy conditions.

It was Anglesea’s lowest score for the season.

Queenscliff’s Oliver Skurrie celebrates a goal. Picture: Alison Wynd

And it came with minimal contributions from in-form small forward Izaac Grant (two goals) who had been going on something of a tear with 25 majors from his past five games before Saturday.

However, it was a different Isaac this time, McCabe, who produced three while young gun Jordan Monahan put four on the board.

The Geelong Falcon set the tone early, roosting one from well beyond the arc following a run of seven behinds between both teams.

Anglesea captain Jack Walters would match that effort with an enormous barrel which trickled through the uprights, but it would prove to be a false dawn for the visitors.

They found forward line connection particularly difficult with Coutas skipper Caleb Whitley leading the back six and Lachlan McKane – who kept Mitch Day to four goals in Round 6 at the Couta Bowl – doing a number on the BFNL’s leading forward, Ayden Gras.

The former Joey would slot just one for the day and that came via a questionable free kick and an equally mysterious 50m penalty which brought Gras to the goal line.

Gras battled hard but McKane ensured every contest was a tough ask, and when he did win possession it was usually further up the field.

Meanwhile, Kai Keenan pulled down a number of telling marks and was influential for the winners.

Jordan Monahan kicked four for the Coutas. Picture: Alison Wynd

Earlier, the heat was on with every possession won under huge pressure and play largely kept between the arcs.

However, the Coutas would provide a glimpse of what was to come; a quick chain of handballs set up a McCabe major to take a 19-point buffer at half time.

The game was certainly up for grabs but the Coutas would put speed on the ball and render Anglesea stagnant by comparison in a dominant third term.

Barring two red time goals in the dying minutes – which had Coutas coach Heath Jamieson frustrated at the final break – the Roos were kept to just eight points across two quarters.

When Anglesea did get it up their attacking end, time and again Whitley would kill their momentum by picking off intercept marks as the Coutas went coast to coast several times to create scoring opportunities.

At the final break, Jamieson was conscious of not opening the door for Anglesea and called for some “Couta Bowl pressure” to close out proceedings.

“We want this to be our fortress,” Jamieson said.

“It’s such an important game for us.

“All you have to do is bring the heat for 30 minutes.

“Nothing fancy, nobody get ahead of themselves, let’s go to work for 30 minutes.”

Early in the fourth, Jordy McIvor Clark was everywhere at half back, providing plenty of precise rebound from half back as the Coutas put any thoughts of an Anglesea revival to bed.

The Roos definitely lifted their intensity, but in a further sign of maturity from the Coutas, they answered with three quick majors to kill the game.

A couple of magnificent passes inside 50 – which found marking targets in Grant and Monahan — highlighted what the visitors couldn’t do often enough.

A Dale Kerr miss from 30m out dead in front perhaps summed up the Roos’ offensive woes.