For the best part of three quarters, the Gold Coast SUNS kept themselves within striking distance of Adelaide to go into the final break less than two goals behind. A big reason behind the narrow margin was the one-two punch thrown by forward pairing Tom Lynch and Charlie Dixon.
 
From the opening bounce, Gold Coast - with Dixon back inside 50 after a one-week absence - looked far more dangerous. By the final siren, the duo combined for 7.4, 17 marks, ten of which were taken inside 50 and nine contested grabs.
 
With his attacking partner back, Lynch thrived with the added support in attack and the ability to play higher up the ground. At times he was sent behind the ball with instant effect.
 
And by the end of the game, Lynch walked off the ground as the most dominant key position player on the ground, with four goals from 21 possessions and 11 marks. After inaccuracy hurt his game against the Giants, he rediscovered his radar to impact the scoreboard efficiently to be arguably the SUNS' best player.
 
“It’s great playing with Charlie. He’s a big presence; he’s a really good player for us. It was good having him back in, he kicked three or four goals today. It was great having him back in,” Lynch told SUNS RAW following Gold Coast’s loss.
 
“It was a bit better to kick straighter this week. 1.5 is not great. It was good to get a couple of goals a bit closer (to goal) this week, made it a bit easier.”
 
A nine-point deficit at the final change ended in disappointing circumstances with the Crows piling on eight goals to two to inflict another final quarter onslaught on the SUNS.
 
Momentum swings have become a common theme in modern football and they were present once again at Adelaide Oval. Gold Coast’s inability to stem the bleeding at different stages has been a recurring theme this year, and was once again a factor in the loss. But it is something Lynch says the SUNS are working on.
 
“These days I reckon it’s more about momentum footy. Teams get run ons we know that, we’ve just got to deal with it as best we can,” Lynch said.
 
“We’ve put measures in place to improve that area of the game. Obviously today they got us in the end - it was disappointing.
 
 “Rocket just spoke about we were in the game until three-quarter time. Nine-points down we gave ourselves the best shot at it, but a few errors at the end there let them get on top and kick a few goals. It was disappointing to lose by 45 points in the end.”