‘Heart in mouth’: Thriller sends fans berserk

The Lions have now gone out of the finals in straight sets for the second time in three years as tempers boiled over with police restraining one supporter who was abusing the match officials as they left the ground with the free kick count of 28-19 against Brisbane.

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While the umpires had far too much say in the contest with howlers against both teams, when the match was in the balance, a brilliant left-foot goal to Bulldogs star Bailey Smith from 40 metres out broke the deadlock with two minutes left in the match.

A running Zac Bailey goal levelled the scores with 78 seconds remaining before Vandermeer rushed a behind with a toe poke to put the visitors in front to break the hearts of Brisbane.

Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli left the field late with a knee issue and the club will sweat on his availability ahead of the preliminary final date with Port Adelaide in Adelaide.

Jack Macrae (38 disposals and a goal) and Hugh McCluggage (28 disposals) were the best for their respective sides as momentum swung wildly throughout the contest.

The Dogs came out with all guns blazing in the final term with goals to Macrae, Josh Schache and Smith handing them an eight-point lead before Lions forward Tom Fullarton bobbed up with a major.

The Lions were reduced to a three-man interchange bench when Jarrod Berry was ruled out with concussion at halftime and medical replacement Ryan Lester – who came on for Jack Payne – was one of three goalkickers in the third term when Brisbane raced to a 18-point lead thanks to a noticeable lift in their pressure.

The Bulldogs lost Cody Weightman to a head knock late in the second quarter and his medical sub – Jason Johannisen – kicked a goal late in the third term to reduce Brisbane’s advantage to 10 points at the last change.

With Macrae racking up 24 touches by the main break, the Bulldogs led by the solitary point at halftime after they kicked the first three goals of the second term through Aaron Naughton, Mitch Hannan and Weightman.

Brisbane suffered a blow when fill-in forward Payne left the field with blood gushing from his head after clashing with the knee of teammate Linc McCarthy in a marking contest.

Brisbane led by 11 points at quarter-time after a sluggish start but scorching finish to the opening term.

The Bulldogs were on top early with Tom Liberatore hitting the scoreboard twice as the visitors dominated the contest on the ground and moved the ball out of defence with ease.

But Brisbane emphatically seized the momentum with three rapid-fire goals with Cameron, Linc McCarthy and Joe Daniher all booting goals on the back of Brisbane dominating centre clearances with ruckman Oscar McInerney getting his hand to the Sherrin first.

Cameron’s third goal for the term was a gem as he collected the bouncing ball at full pace and kicked across his body from 40 metres out to send the Gabba faithful wild.

Essendon supporters were irate at a number of umpiring howlers in the sudden-death final against the Bulldogs in Launceston last week. The Gabba faithful were revolting on Saturday when the Dogs received 10 free kicks to Brisbane’s four in the second term. Some were there – despite the passionate protests of some Brisbane supporters – but a few were very soft calls against the Lions. In short, they had a shocker. None of the officials at the Gabba should figure in the preliminary finals.

Concussion concerns

It was carnage at halftime with both sides losing players to head knocks. The Bulldogs were forced to activate medical sub Jason Johannisen after Cody Weightman suffered a head knock when he ran into the substantial figure of Marcus Adams in the second term. Brisbane had to play the second half with one man short on the interchange bench after Jarrod Berry was ruled out of the match with concussion after hitting his head on the ground making a tackle.

Forward line nightmare

Lions senior coach Chris Fagan is always happy to talk about Dan McStay’s vital role in Brisbane’s forward structure. With McStay in the grandstands after getting knocked senseless last week, his influence was missed. After losing Eric Hipwood earlier in the season, the absence of McStay was critical as the Lions struggled for a period to capitalise on their inside 50 entry superiority. Losing McStay’s replacement, Jack Payne, in the second quarter saw defender Ryan Lester thrust into a forward role.

Week three fixture confirmed

The Bulldogs’ win confirmed the fixture for the third week of this year’s finals series. Melbourne is set to face the Cats at Perth’s Optus Stadium on Friday, September 10. The Bulldogs will meet Port Adelaide the following evening at Adelaide Oval. The winner of each clash advances to the grand final on September 25 which, for the first time in AFL/VFL history, will be hosted in Perth.

Caleb kicks off

There is a good reason why there is a Twitter account devoted to the “elite” kicking skills of diminutive Bulldogs defender Caleb Daniel. Time and again, Daniel was able to clear congestion with raking pinpoint kicks to teammates coming out of defence to thrust the Bulldogs into counter-attack. Brisbane allowed Daniel to sprint 15 to 20 metres out of the goalsquare before he pumped the Sherrin to the centre of the field.

Score:

LIONS: 5.3/6.5/9.9/11.12 (78)

BULLDOGS: 3.4/6.6/7.11/11.13 (79)

Goals:

LIONS: Cameron 3, Bailey 2, McCarthy, Daniher, Robinson, McCluggage, Lester, Fullarton

BULLDOGS: Smith 3, Liberatore 2, Naughton, Hannan, Weightman, Johannisen, Macrae, Schache,

Greg Davis’ best:

LIONS: McCluggage, Zorko, Robinson, Cameron, Lyons, Coleman, McInerney

BULLDOGS: Macrae, Daniel, Bontempelli, B.Smith, Dale, Hunter, Dunkley

Injuries:

LIONS: Jack Payne (head cut), Jarrod Berry (concussion)

BULLDOGS: Cody Weightman (head knock), Bontempelli (knee)

Crowd:

36,470