Gold Coast 3.2 5.7 9.10 13.17 (95) Carlton 1.3 3.5 5.8 5.11 (41)
Goals:Â Gold Coast: Lynch 4, Martin 3, Cameron, Malceski, Hall, Day, Matera, Sexton. Carlton: C Curnow, Casboult, Tuohy, Wright, Cripps.
Best: Gold Coast: Lynch, Hall, Kolodjashnij, Ablett, Martin, Malceski. Carlton: Weitering, E Curnow, Gibbs, Docherty, Simpson, Cripps.
Injuries: Gold Coast: McKenzie (broken nose); Thompson (ankle).
Umpires: Stevic, Fleer, Mitchell.
Crowd: 13,885 at Metricon Stadium.
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Suns' win over Blues comes at a cost
Gold Coast maintain unbeaten start to season but Trent McKenzie and Rory Thompson both fail to complete the match.
The Gold Coast Suns have three wins; Carlton three losses. The former sit comfortably near the pointy end of the ladder, after accounting for the latter by a better than comfortable 54 points at Metricon Stadium. Carlton remain where they are expected to stay: close to the bottom.
Yet, for 2½ quarters of an error-strewn and unremarkable match, you'd be forgiven for thinking there wasn't that much between the two sides. The key difference in the end was the Suns' greater scoring power, but they made heavy work of their opportunities, and butchered many more.
To be fair, conditions were slippery, as is usual on the coast at this time of year, and clean ball-handling at ground level was at a premium. So was clean disposal. The Suns' Kade Kolodjashnij's pinpoint ball use and level-headedness was a standout. So too Jack Martin's three goals (and two direct assists).
Martin's third goal, seven minutes into the final quarter, all but sealed the match, and Tom Lynch followed with two more in two minutes to make sure of it. Lynch, who kicked four in all, is on the cusp of superstar status. Martin, with 24 games under his belt, isn't there yet, but he is already a nightmare match-up for opposition defences.
The Blues at least have their own budding superstar in No. 1 draft pick Jacob Weitering, who already looks like he's been playing senior football for years. He dominated in defence for Carlton and was his side's best player, but he couldn't be expected to hold back what became a tide of entries by himself.
Of course, Carlton have bigger problems at the other end, where Levi Casboult was practically the sole viable, if unreliable target. Twenty-three marks inside 50 to five was the brutal statistic that told the story of the game. The Blues broke even for contested possessions, but were slaughtered outside the packs.
For the Suns, Aaron Hall didn't always finish off his work, but he is becoming a magnet, finding the ball 40 times for the Suns and setting up many forward thrusts with some scything runs through the middle. Gary Ablett had 35 possessions and cleared the ball from the packs nine times.
But it was Lynch's game – 10 marks on top of 23 possessions – that towered above them all. He could easily have kicked seven goals. The downside was an ankle injury to defender Rory Thompson and a badly broken nose suffered by Trent McKenzie in the first quarter.