IN this week’s QAFL Women’s match of the round, University of Queensland (UQ) stamped its authority as reigning premier, comfortably accounting for Wilston Grange.

UQ certainly had all the attacking momentum early in the first term, but could not make the Gorillas pay on the scoreboard. It took almost 10 minutes for the Red Lions to put a goal on the board, and it came through Louise Tyson.

Kadie Fletcher was then able to use her pace to put through the Red Lions’ second and already the margin was at three goals but could have been much more.

The Red Lions did almost all of the attacking in the opening term, but in the wet and slippery conditions they just could not convert and make the most of their opportunities. They may have been 20 points up and kept Wilston Grange scoreless, but the scoreline sat at 2.8, so the margin could have been even higher.

Someone who was particularly impressive early was Megan Hunt for UQ. She was winning a lot of the ball in the middle and setting up a lot of attacking play for the Red Lions.

It only took about a minute into the second term for UQ to score again, with Fletcher wheeling around on her body and slotting though her second for the afternoon.

Kristen Tyquin snared UQ’s fourth only two minutes later and things were starting to get out of hand for the Gorillas. Tyson then nabbed her second for UQ and the floodgates were really starting to open.

Next, it was Lions listed Luka Yoshida-Martin who nabbed her first for the afternoon from the very next centre clearance, and things were starting to look very easy for the Red Lions.

Kaitlyn Day then got one on the board for the Red Lions about halfway through the term and the margin had already reached more then 50 points.

Steph O’Brien was next up, kicking her first major of the year with about three minutes left in the term to extend the lead even further.

That would be it for scoring in the term as the margin was 61 points at half time.

The third term was a much better performance from Wilston Grange, and despite not making the most of their chances and putting some score on the board, they were winning the possession count and they were the much better side in the term. They got their first score on the board at about the 15 minute mark of the term, but it was a behind.

The Red Lions finally got another goal on the board with about two minutes to go, but the vast majority of the play in the third term was in Wilston Grange’s forward line.

As the teams turned for home, the margin was 71 points in favour of the Red Lions.

It only took UQ one minute of the last term to add to the score line again, and the margin rose to 77.

That would be the last goal of the match as the conditions worsened and the Red Lions secured a very comfortable win.

UQ coach Ross Clayfield was overall happy with how his team performed on the weekend.

“It’s a tricky one,” he said. “Obviously Wilston Grange are in a rebuilding phase. We had a pretty solid team named on the weekend. We’re obviously looking for some confidence and just develop our ball movement a little further, which was working pretty well the first half, but a bit of rain kicked in in the second half and the game into a fairly heavy stoppage driven sort of game, but at the end of the day we’re happy to get away without any serious injury and bank the premiership points and we move on.”

He noted how there were a number of factors that slowed his side’s scoring in the second half.

“A combination of things probably let us down,” he said. “Obviously the weather played a role, it got quite heavy there and the ground became quite heavy, and the ball obviously became more slippery. I think too that the danger when you’re in a situation where you’re on top in a game like that and the result’s probably known fairly early on is that players can become a little bit hungry to get the football and get involved.

“It’s something we spoke about as a group and we pride ourselves on. That rarely happens but maybe that crept into our game a bit in the third quarter, and then perhaps in an effort to try and show that that is not who we are, we probably overused it a bit in the last quarter in the conditions. But overall we’re not too disappointed, and happy with the footy we played, certainly in the first half.”

Although he noted how even the playing group is, Clayfield did sing the praises of the performances of Fletcher and Hunt, as well as the likes of O’Brien, Madi Crowley-Long and Tyson.

In other results:

Southport’s great start to their inaugural top level season continued, downing Maroochydore by 14 points.

The Roos actually led at quarter time, but the Sharks turned things around in the middle two quarters, and actually kept Maroochydore scoreless in the third term.

Brittany Perry bagged another three majors for the Sharks in the win, while Georgia Breward, Rianna Schipp and Madeleine Watt all played well in the win.

Meanwhile for Maroochydore, Emma Day and Kiara Hillier both kicked a goal, while Amber Swan and Bree Grentell were among their best players.

Bond Uni remained undefeated this season, after running away with the match against Coorparoo. The Bullsharks kept Coorparoo scoreless for two quarters on the way to a 29 point win.

For Bond, Josie McCabe and Wallis Randell booted two majors each, while Imogen Evans and Caitlin Thorne both played well in the win.

Meanwhile for Coorparoo, Laura Blue and Makeisha Muller both kicked a goal, while Janae Govan and Emma Zielke both played well in the win.

Aspley nabbed their second straight win of the season, defeating Yeronga South Brisbane by 23 points.

Neither side scored a goal in the first half, but a two goal to one third term set things up for the Hornets, who then kept the Devils goalless on the way to earning the win.

For Aspley, Courtney Daniec, Angela Lingard and Charlotte Mullins all played well, while Georgia Hewett, Mia Walsh and Jaida Tabb were all among Yeronga’s best in another tough loss.