What was supposed to be a night to remember for Gary Ablett became one he would largely like to forget despite an injury-hit Gold Coast holding on to a 13-point AFL win over lowly Melbourne at Metricon Stadium on Saturday night.
What was supposed to be “The Gary Ablett Show” quickly became painful viewing as a sloppy Suns fell short of producing a display worthy of celebrating the Brownlow Medallist’s 250th game.
However, the Suns held on for the 13.12 (90) to 10.17 (77) win – their seventh of the season – in front of a 13,840-strong crowd.
A team they had thrashed by 60 points in round seven this year – a Gold Coast club record – fed off the Suns’ errors to give themselves a chance of grabbing a rare win a week after losing by 37 to wooden spoon fancies Greater Western Sydney.
Adding to Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna’s worries, they were reduced to one player on the bench after Nathan Bock was substituted at halftime (leg) and Alex Sexton (dislocated shoulder) and Sam Day (hamstring) went down.
Sexton appeared in agony as he clutched his shoulder after appearing to injure himself in an early fourth quarter melee.
The spate of injuries ensured Steven May remained on the field despite appearing to be struggling with a hamstring complaint.
Gold Coast hardman Campbell Brown may come under close scrutiny after his boot appeared to make contact with James Strauss in the third term, forcing the midfielder to leave the ground with a bloodied nose.
Ablett was manhandled throughout the night and was held to just 19 touches.
After holding onto a three-point halftime buffer, Gold Coast began the third quarter with a bang, booting back-to-back majors in as many minutes to blow the deficit out to 15.
But they resorted back to their sloppy ways and appeared to have lost all momentum when Gold Coast defender Rory Thompson copped a dubious high contact penalty and gifted Melbourne’s Luke Tapscott a goal, handing the visitors a four-point lead.
However, three straight Gold Coast goals kept the rollercoaster ride going as the hosts led 10.11 (71) to 8.11 (59) at the final break.
Ablett was held to just four touches as Melbourne jumped to a 3.2 (20) to 2.4 (16) lead at the first break despite losing Jeremy Howe (calf) and Cameron Pedersen (stomach bug) before the match.
