Hornets sting GIANTS as rise up ladder continues

A resilient Aspley Hornets have jumped back in the top four after a dominant 64-point win over the GIANTS in Sydney on Saturday.

The Hornets didn’t break lead at GIANTS Stadium for the full four quarters, pulling away after a close battle early to take the Round 16 win by 16.18 (114) to 7.8 (50).

James Ives was able to celebrate his 100th game with a win, earning himself 26 disposals to be one of Aspley’s best, as they made it six wins in a row and remain as dangerous competitors coming into the pointy end of the season.

Aspley coach, Daniel Webster, acknowledged his team’s efforts and said he is proud of how far they have come.

“We are just starting to work on our game-plan and we are getting comfortable with what we are doing,” he told neafl.com.au.

“We are looking forward to next week, we’re just going to keep doing what we are doing and hopefully we can come away with another good win.”

It was all sunny skies and perfect conditions at GIANTS Stadium on Saturday, but both sides struggled to kick a goal in the first term with back-to-back behinds until the 21st minute when Jack Staley booted the first major of the game to put the Hornets in front by six points, making it his first goal of the season.

The GIANTS opened the second term with an impressive mark from Zach Sproule gifting them with their first goal of the game. The game started to creep away from the home side when the Hornets produced three straight goals halfway through the second term.

Jordan Arnold was the one to twist the knife even further with a pearler of a goal on the halftime siren taking him and his team into the sheds with a comfortable 26-point lead.

Academy member Liam Delahunty gave the GIANTS much needed momentum by booting back-to-back goals in the first 10 minutes of the third term to get them back within striking distance.

Nick Shipley also wanted in on the action with an impressive goal to bring the GIANTS within eight points. But the Hornets swarmed themselves away from the contest with back-to-back goals in the second half of the third term to extend their lead to 34 points.

The GIANTS tried to crawl themselves back into the contest but it was all too late for the young side, with the Hornets buzzing away in the fourth quarter.

Aspley kicked seven goals to two in the last to put an exclamation point on the win.

The GIANTS will have the chance to redeem themselves when they travel to the Gold Coast next Saturday where they’ll face the eighth-placed SUNS.

The Hornets will find themselves in another must-win match when they come up against the seventh-placed Sydney University side at home next Saturday.

GIANTS v Aspley Hornets at GIANTS Stadium

ASPLEY 1.4 5.12 9.16 16.18 (114)
GIANTS 0.3 2.4 5.6 7.8 (50)

GOALS – Aspley: J Freeman 4 L Hampton 2 J Nelis 2 J Spencer 2 J Stanley J Hayden J Giles J Arnold J Coghlan J Craven. GIANTS: L Delahunty 2 J Moen J Rowston N Shipley Z Sproule L Squire.
BEST – Aspley: L Hampton J Spencer M Payne G Grose L Dawson J Craven. GIANTS: K Briggs J Peatling J Caldwell K Flack.

Don’t forget to download our free NEAFL App, featuring live Champion Data stats, player bios and more! Available now from the Google Play and Apple stores.

Have your say! Follow the NEAFL on Twitter (@neaflofficial), Instagram (@neaflofficial) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/neaflofficial).