Round 4 Details
MATCH SUMMARIES:
MATCH OF THE ROUND: Redcliffe Dolphins 32 (Michael Wilson 2, Matt Gillett, Tim Benson, David Hala, Greg Malenstein tries; Asher Elamani 4 goals) def Easts Tigers 24 (David Tyrell, Matthew Klein, Todd Hair, John Helu tries; Todd Hair 4 goals)
MATCH REPORT (from the WEBMASTER):
The Redcliffe Dolphins Colts joined the Easts Tigers at the top of the table with a thrilling 32-24 win at Langlands Park, only putting the match beyond doubt with a last minute converted try. To be fair, Redcliffe did look the better side for most of the day, with a succession of Dolphin errors keeping Easts in the match for so long. Indeed Easts led 18-10 at halftime with all three of their tries coming after Redcliffe mistakes. This is not surprising considering the visitors only completed 7 of 18 sets in the first stanza. After a blast from coach Craig Ingebrigsten that stripped what little paint is left off the visitors change room at the break, Redcliffe completed 19 of 21 sets in the second half which they won 22-6.
Redcliffe started well with a fine set that took them the length of the field with a great ball from Joel Romelo putting Tim Benson over besides the posts, although Benson's attempted conversion went wide. Easts struck back with a close range try from David Helu, but Redcliffe were soon back in front with another try on the fifth tackle to take a 10-6 lead after 15 minutes. In the 10 minutes before halftime however the Tigers struck twice, the first an intercept to Todd Hair from 60 metres out from a botched set move, and the second from a great break by centre Matthew Klein after Redcliffe failed to find touch from a penalty.
Redcliffe started the second half well with props David Hala and Greg Malenstein both charging over from close range, the first after a rare scrum win against the feed. A 70 metre intercept try to Matt Gillett extended their lead to 26-18 with 17 minutes remaining and the Tigers looked "gone", however they dug deep and some great work down the left flank by Pueki Ofahengaue after a charged down clearing kick saw David Tyrell over in the corner, with Todd Hair's conversion bringing them back within 2 points with 12 minutes remaining. They had their opportunities in this period but poor handling let them down, and eventually Redcliffe capitalised with their last minute try to centre Michael Wilson giving him a deserved double, and a final score of 32-24.
For Redcliffe, Foisa Peni was absolutely outstanding, with charging runs, deft offloads and some punishing defence, and he was well supported by young prop David Hala, and inventive hooker Joel Romelo. Halfback Asher Elemani led the team around the park well, whilst Michael Wilson played well in the centres, with will-of-the-wisp fullback Phil Daisy causing the defence plenty of worries.
For Easts John Helu, who came into the starting side with the late withdrawal of Josh Roberts, had a great game, as did youngster Dwayne Rigby off the bench, and Brent Kuskey put in his usual whole-hearted effort. There is no doubt Easts backs missed David Georgiou who is out with a knee injury, but center Matthew Klein, winger David Tyrrell and fullback David Wood, despite picking up a wrist injury all went well. Tyrrell was rewarded with a spot on the bench for "A" grade where he scored another try.
Overall a great game, and an impressive win for the Dolphins, although Easts certainly put in a great effort, only really being let down by their poor handling in the closing stages.
Penalties: Easts 5 – 4; Scrums: Redcliffe 12 – 5; Completion Rates: Easts 18/36, Redcliffe 26/39
Wynnum Manly Seagulls 40 (Luke Menhinnitt 4, Matt Aitken 3, Trent Clarke tries; Luke Menhinnitt 4 goals) def Western District Panthers 12 (Dean Sheppard, Brendan Altadonna tries; Mataika Vatuvei 2 goals)
MATCH REPORT (from the WEBMASTER):
Wynnum Manly Colts proved far too strong for Western Districts in their game at Kev McKell oval, with Luke Menhinnitt (4 tries) and Matt Aitken (3 tries) creating havoc down the right side for the Seagulls.
The home side started well, opening the scoring with a fine individual effort from Dean Sheppard in the fifth minute giving them a 6-0 lead. They should have scored another two minutes later with Liam McDonald making a break and finding Brendan Altadonna in support but, having broken the fullback's tackle, he had the ball knocked lose by a late arriving defender as he lunged for the line. Wynnum were next to score in the 13th minute with Menhinnitt bursting over on the 5th tackle. Wests should have gone further ahead when, with 5 attackers on 1 defender, halfback Mataika Vatuvai tried a chip kick, which unfortunately went straight to the one Wynnum defender, Matt Aitken, who ran 95 metres to score. This started a scoring blitz for the visitors, and with Wests only holding the ball for only one tackle in the next 11 minutes, Wynnum racked up a further 3 tries, as interchange players Robbie Congoo, Trent Clarke, Jack Reis and Shaun Cotter decimated a tiring Panther defence, giving the Seagulls a 24-6 halftime lead.
The second half began in a similar vein with Menhinnitt adding a further 2 tries in 8 minutes to take the lead to 28 points. The sinbinning of Robbie Congoo in the 45th minute slowed the Seagulls a little and Brendan Altadonna was rewarded for a solid game with a try from dummy half, however a further try to Aitken, with Tino Vaasa sin-binned, completed the games' scoring at 40-12.
For Wynnum lock Warren Jensen was outstanding with Trent Clarke and Robbie Congoo particularly eye catching off the interchange bench. Five-eight Matt Smith put in a typically polished performance with his pin-point kicking gaining 2 drop-outs and a 40/20. Luke Menhinnitt and Matt Aitken were outstanding on the right side.
For Wests none tried harder than Liam McDonald, whilst Dean Sheppard and Troy Giess had some good moments. The backs it has to be said were disappointing and showed little penetration. Dean Madders and Kim Ingebrigsten were both put on report for high tackles, but from my vantage point they seemed a little hard done by, with Wests discipline overall much better than it had been in previous weeks.
Wynnum showed they are a well drilled outfit and will certainly be a handful for the rest of the season.
Penalties: Wynnum 8 – 5; Scrums: Wests 10 – 3; Completion Rates: Wests 15/27, Wynnum 25/38
Tweed Heads Seagulls 50 (Jay Mariconte 2, Matt Lindsay 2, Harry Witt 2, Trent Iselin, Brodie Williams, Tim Leary tries; Trent Iselin 7 goals) def Sunshine Coast Falcons 16 (Ben Whiddon, Danny McMah, Michael Vella tries; Ben Whiddon 2 goals)
IN BRIEF:
Tweed Heads showed they will be a tough proposition at Piggabeen this year with an impressive 50-16 win over the Sunshine Coast after leading 26-12 at halftime. Jay Mariconte, Matt Lindsay and Harry Witt all picked up doubles with Trent Iselin racking up 18 points from a try and 7 goals.
Aspley Devils 26 (Zac Hook 2, Matthew Baird, Alex Tallon, Chris Bella tries; Scott Millar 3 goals) def Ipswich Jets 24 (Dean Bannerman, Peter Poppi, Kailyb Gray, Mananui Te Heu Heu tries; Tim McIlwain 4 goals)
MATCH REPORT (from the WEBMASTER):
Ipswich all but upset their more fancied rivals Aspley in a stop-start encounter at QLD Group Stadium. Indeed Ipswich led for most of the match, except for 2 periods of 2 minutes in the second stanza and the final 3 minutes of the match, and looked the better side for most of the day, but that will be of little consolation. Unfortunately 24 penalties and a series of rather baffling decisions by the match officials spoiled the game somewhat as a spectacle, with both teams bemused by some puzzling calls. In the end the unlucky sin-binning of Ipswich's best player, lock Mananui Te Heu Heu, 7 minutes before half-time with the home side leading 14-0 proved critical, as Aspley managed two tries in the period leading up to half-time to get them back within striking distance.
Ipswich started well and were in after only 3 minutes when Te Heu Heu broke some poor defence and went over under the posts. The Jets lead was extended to 8 with a Tim McIlwain penalty goal 3 minutes later, and when, on the back of three successive penalties, Dean Bannerman showed great determination to get over close to the posts Ipswich led 14-0. With Aspley unable to put any meaningful attack together the score remained at this till after the sin-binning of Te Heu Heu, with first Zac Hook powering over from close to the line, and then as the half-time hooter sounded, the try of the match with the ball going through at least 9 sets of hands from 70 metres out with Chris Bella eventually crossing in the corner, to bring the score back to 14-10 to Ipswich at the break.
Aspley hit the from for the first time 6 minutes into the second half when Alex Tallon showed great pace and evasiveness to dash 40 metres from the scrum base to score under the posts, but the lead was to be short-lived as a mistake from the kickoff saw Ipswich attacking again with Tim McIlwain throwing a great delayed pass to half back Peter Poppi to score. The conversion attempt went wide as did another penalty attempt 5 minutes later but Ipswich defended determinedly for the next 15 minutes to hold on to their 18-16 lead. Eventually the defence cracked when Tallon threw a flat ball to Zac Hook who crashed over for his second try with 12 minutes remaining, the conversion giving the Devils a 4 point buffer. Ipswich would not lie down however and were straight back in front when, after an Aspley knock-on from the kickoff, a well worked set play on the blind saw their hard working prop Kailyb Gray cross. Tim McIlwain calmly potted the sideline conversion and Ipswich were again two in front with 9 minutes to play. A couple of mistakes inside their own territory proved costly for the Jets however and with 3 minutes on the clock, the visitors spun the ball wide with Rob Fisher finding fullback Scott Millar who put winger Matt Baird over in the corner for what turned out to be the winning try. Aspley shut down the match in the final 2 minutes to run out 26-24 winners.
The best player on the field was Te Heu Heu on a losing side and he was well supported by Kailyb Gray and Geoff Holcombe in the forwards whilst Tim McIlwain and Dean Bannerman were the best of the backs, although it has to be said the entire Ipswich backline defended extremely well against their more well-credentialled rivals. For the winners none was better than interchange forward Mick Tierney, whilst forwards Zac Hook and Simona Vavega, returning from injury, were damaging in attack and captain Btynjar Raggnarsson got through a lot of defence. In the backs fullback Scott Millar and centre Charlie Fetoia went well as did halfback Alex Tallon, and winger Matt Baird.
Penalties: Aspley 15 – 9; Scrums: Ipswich 11 – 7; Completion Rates: Ipswich 20/38, Aspley 25/40
Norths Devils 30 (Steve Beaumont 2, Kieran Turner, Will Chambers, Jason Poppi, Jarrad Stack tries; Luke Samoa 3 goals) def Burleigh Bears 20 (Matthew Parata 2, Marty Paulson, Oscar Diekis tries; Marty Paulson 2 goals)
IN BRIEF:
Norths defeated Burleigh in a see-sawing encounter. Norths led 14-10 at the break but Burleigh hit the front early in the second half to lead 16-14. Norths showed more determination in the second half that they did against Easts however and came home the better to win 30-20.
SOUTHS-LOGAN MAGPIES BYE
MATCH PREVIEWS:
MATCH OF THE ROUND:
Easts Tigers v Redcliffe Dolphins Sat 11:45am Langlands Park
Two undefeated teams clash in the opening match of the Round. Easts have been very impressive in their games to date whilst Redcliffe just got up over Ipswich, and then were held by Wests till half-time before running away in the second half last week. Easts will miss David Georgiou at 5/8, whilst Redcliffe welcome back youngster Joel Romelo in the hooking position. Should be a good game between two well-coached sides. "THE COMPUTER" tips Easts by 6.
Western District Panthers v Wynnum-Manly Seagulls Sat 4:00pm Kev McKell Oval
Wynnum scored a solid win over Ipswich last week, whilst Wests self destructed in the second half against Redcliffe, and need to get their season back on track having lost their opening three matches. Hard to go past the Seagulls in this one with Matt Smith leading them around the field well this season, despite the Panthers home ground advantage. "THE COMPUTER" tips Wynnum Manly by 12.
Tweed Heads Seagulls v Sunshine Coast Falcons Sun 10:45am Piggabeen Complex
The far north of the comp meets the far south in this Interesting match-up. It is Tweed's first home game and the Sunshine Coast's first away game as well, so a new experience for both these new kids on the block. The Falcons upset Souths-Logan in their only win of the season, whilst Tweed have led in two of their three matches before going down. Will be a tough trip for the north coast boys as Tweed will want to open their account with a win at home "THE COMPUTER" tips Tweed Heads by 10.
Ipswich Jets v Aspley Devils Sun 11:45am QLD Group Stadium
This one is shaping up as a tough one for the home side, with Aspley welcoming back some old stars. The Devils however will have yet another halves combination, their fourth in as many games with rookie halfback Alex Tallon partnering Rob Fisher at 5/8 - Rob is having his first game in nearly a year. Charlie Fetoia, Keiron Lander, Fletcher Holmes and Simona Vavega are also back bit will lack match fitness. Ipswich's handling has been very poor in their first few outings and they will need to improve this significantly to avoid a hammering, although if they can stay with Aspley early, they may be able to finish over them "THE COMPUTER" tips Aspley by 20.
Norths Devils v Burleigh Bears Sun 11:45am Bishop Pk
This should be a good game to finish the weekend. These two teams finished in the top 3 last year, but both have suffered early losses this year, both to the "on fire" Easts side. Neither will want to drop further down the table so there should be plenty of desperation. Norths in particular will have bad memories of their last home match when they faded badly after seeming to have the Tigers tamed and they will not want to lose two in a row at home. "THE COMPUTER" tips Norths by 6.
SOUTHS-LOGAN MAGPIES BYE
