Round 5 Details
MATCH SUMMARIES:
Ipswich Jets 27 (Geoff Holcombe 2, David Pamatatau, Daniel Frank, Joseph Chudleigh tries; Kailyb Gray 2, Clint Lavendar goals, Peter Poppi field goal) def Souths-Logan Magpies 26 (Tom O Connor 2, Antonio Winterstein, Louis Makuare, James Pritchard tries; Mase Laulu Togagae 3 goals)
MATCH REPORT (from the WEBMASTER):
With Ipswich having 8 representatitive players out and Souths-Logan missing the attacking genius of Chris Sandow, little did the healthy crowd at Brandon Park realised what a tremendous match was in store. The game kicked off in fine warm conditions, and the home side were first on the board after only five minutes when a repeat set close to the line saw centre antonio Winterstein cross wide out. This only stung the visitors into action and the next 15 minutes was all Ipswich with them rattling on 4 tries. Firstly Quick thinking fram a penalty close to the line saw Geoff Holcombe cross then two great backline tries to centre Daniel Frank and winger Joe Chudleigh and a David Pamatatau touchdown from a neat Holcombe grubber saw the Jets dash to a 20-4 lead. In the 10 minutes before halftime however the Magpies steadied, with firstly winger Louis Makuare cross afetr a good offload from Winterstein and then halfback Tom O'Connor emulated Holcombe's earlier effort from a quick tap close to the line, and the teams went to the break with Ipswich lleading 20-16.
Eight minutes into the second half, Souths-Logan regained the lead with a converted try to huge interchange forward James Pritchard stormed over after the Magpie scrum had forced a turnover when they pushed Ipswich off the ball. This lead was extened to 6 points when a neat interchange of passing betwenn O'Connor and 5/8 Jason Mitchell saw O'Connor across for his second wide out. Ipswich fought back however and with 9 minutes remaining were back level after Holcombe crossed for his second try from a tap penalty shortly after a scrum win against the feed and interchange player Clint Lavendar calmly potted the conversion. Both teams had opportunities to score in the next few passages of play with great defence holding firm, until with one minute on the clock Ipswich halfback Peter Poppi stepped round a couple of charging defenders on the 5th tackle and wobbled a field goal between the posts. Souths tries a short kick off and were unable to regain the ball, and Ipswich played out the set with Geoff Holcombe kicking the ball out on the full as the full-time hooter sounded.
For the winners Geoff Holcombe had a great game at hooker, in both attack and defence, as did second-rower Setima Puavaase, well backed up propos Akex Tafili and Kailyb Gray. In the backs the centres were dtrong, in particular Daniel Frank and Dean Bannerman was safe as normal at fullback, despite taking a heavy knock early in the game. For the home side none performed better than centre Antonio Winterstein amd half back Tom O'Connor, whilst in the forward Barney Fonua and Kruize Filipini performed well. Off the interchange bench Mitchell McLelland sparked some good attack and James Pritchard was at times unstoppable.
Overall a great game of footy!!
Penalties: Ipswich 10 – 5; Scrums: Ipswich 6 - 4; Completion Rates: Souths-Logan 18/28, Ipswich 22/30
Aspley Devils 30 (Scott Millar 2, Keiron Lander 2, Matthew Baird, Troyden Edwards tries; Scott Millar 3 goals) def Western Districts Panthers 22 (Adam Breen, Troy Rowbotham, Lachlan Gowland, Matt Butler tries; Mataika Vatuvei 3 goals)
MATCH REPORT (from the WEBMASTER):
After a disappointing performance against Ipswich last week, most thoughthat Aspley would come out a much better side against the only side still seeking a win in the FOGS Colts Challenge after Ipswich' s earlier victory, Western Districts. The Panthers had not read the script however and despite making several handling errors were by far the best side in the first half. They were rewarded with tries in the 18th and 28th minute, both to interchange players Lachlan Gowland and Matt Butler from fine individual efforts through some disappointing defence. Despite threatening on a few occasions Aspley's handling was appalling, completing less than 50% of their setsin the first half, and this combined with some stern Panther defence saw them scoreless till 3 minutes before the break, when hooker Kieron Lander in his comback match powered over from dummy half. Unfortunately for the visitors a close range penalty attempt went wide right on half-time and they went to the break leading 12-6, although a much bigger lead was deserved.
The second half opened well for the visitors with two more tries to their wingers in the opeining 8 minutes, the first to Adam Breen from a well placed bomb, and the second to Troy Rowbotham after some good wide passing. and the visitors lead had extended to 16 points. Aspley finally held on to the ball long enough to sustain the pressure after 15 minutes of the half eventually resulting in lock Troyden Edwards scoring a fine individual try with Scott Millar's conversion narrowing the lead to 10. An altercation after the try was scored saw Edwards and Wests centre Ryan Corrie dispatched to the sin-bin for ten minutes. The Panthers were starting to tire as Aspley held on to the ball better but with only 15 minutes remaining Aspley still had pleanty of work to do. Within 5 minutes however they had narrowed the gap to two with two unconverted tries on each side of the field, the first to Scott Millar on thr right, and the second to Matt Baird on the left with simple ball movement catching the Panther defence short. With six minutes remaining Wests seemed almost certain to score from a Mataika vatuvei grubber but in the scramble for the ball Aspley saved the try and Vatuvei, who had been Wests most dangerous player all day injured his ankle, having to be carried off the field to join opposition halfback Alex Tallon who had succumbed to injury earlier, on the sideline. Aspley finally hit the front with 4 minutes remaining when interchange player Robert Fisher oulled off a one-on-one strip and Kieron Lander smashed his way over. The home side put the icing on the cake in the last minute when Scott Millar crossed in the corner for his second try, and almost unbelievably the Devils had done another escape act and got home by the deceptively comfortable margin of 8 points 30-22.
For the winners, centre Charlie Fetoia was outstanding in both attack and defence and he was well supported by hooker Keiron Lander and lock Troyden Edwards. Scott Millar also played well at fullback, and Simona Vavega put in some strong runs. Michael Bond also orchestrated some good backline moves as Aspley put on their 5 tries in the final 22 minutes.
For the losers Mataika Vatuvei went well after a slow start, whilst Dean Sheppard and Brendan Altadonna shone in the forwards. Winger Adam Brenn did some good things as did Tino Vaasa and Lachlan Gowland off the bench.
Wests will probably regard this as one that got away, and it certainly was an encouraging performance for them, whilst Aspley despite now winning 4 from 4 against teams in the bottom half of the competition will have to show some marked improvement if they wich to rack up some wins in their tough run in the next 5 weeks.
Penalties: Western Districts 8 – 7; Scrums: Western Districts 10 – 8; Completion Rates: Aspley 19/33, Western Districts 19/33
Redcliffe Dolphins 46 (Joel Romelo 2, Phil Daisy, Logan Sullivan, Foisa Peni, James Derbyshire, Matt Gillett, Jordan Brown tries; Tim Benson 7 goals) def Burleigh Bears 24 (Matt Francis 2, Matthew Parata, Dominic Devitt tries; Matthew Parata 4 goals)
MATCH REPORT (from the WEBMASTER):
Certainly one of the strangest games of rugby league I have witnessed with all 70 points being scored at the same end of the ground! Burleigh were behind the eight-ball from the start with talented fullback Marty Paulson injured in the trials yesterday, halfback Justin Hunt a late withdrawal and 8 players backing up from yesterday's Southern Division wins over Wide Bay and South-West at Gatton.
Redcliffe had a dream start with their kickoff going dead, and they then put together 25 minutes of faultless football, completing 16 sets without an error and running up a 40-0 lead. Second rower Logan Sullivan opened the scoring in the 4th minute, running off a great offload from his second row partner Foisa Penni who again was outstanding. The next try was a 50 metre individual effort from full back Phil Daisy and Redcliffe led 12-0 after 10 mins. The next 10 mins brought another 3 tries firstly when the prop Greg Malenstein offloaded to halfback Joel Romelo, the second after a Redcliffe grubber was intelligently flicked up from Matt Gillett to winger Jordan Brown, and the third when Romelo made a long break of his own and offloaded in the tackle infield to Peni who did well to back up inside and it was 28-0 after 20 mins. Further tries to winger Jordan Brown and Matt Gillett from backline moves and 2 sideline conversions to stopgap hooker Tim Benson brough up the 40points. A dismal half for Burleigh was completed for Burleigh with replacement Ren Greentree then five-eight Robbie Witt going on report and an 8th try to Redcliffe right on halftime from a Romelo cross kick, another Benson sideline conversion rubbing salt into the gaping wound for a 46-0 halftime Dolphin lead. Redcliffe had completed 20 of 22 sets in the first 35 mins, with Burleigh only managing 4 from 7!!!
In a display eerily reminiscent of last week's performance against Easts, except that the halves were reversed, Redcliffe were quite simply as bad in the second half as they were good in the first. They stumbled from one mistake to another, completing only 3 of 13 full sets, although 6 penalties extended this to 9 from 19, they had Joel Romelo put on report for a careless swinging arm, and they could not breach the Burleigh defence. In contrast the Burleigh side played with much more commitment and enthusiasm and managed 4 converted tries. Their first try was only 2 minutes after the brek when Matt Parata playing in the uncustomary position of fullback following the withdrawal of Paulson, broke clear from 40 metres out and outpaced the defence to score. Five minutes later they were in again when the ball was spun wide on the 5th tackle and Dominic Devitt crashed over. The next 15 minutes featured better defence from both sides with referee Brenden Wood, fully tested to keep all 13 players on the field. Burleigh finished well with two more converted tries in the last 10 mins, both to hooker Matt Francis, the first from a quick tap , and the second from a ricocheting grubber kick. Parata's faultless goalkicking brought the final score to Redcliffe 46 Burleigh 24. Burleigh second half revival was marred a little by a further two reports, firstly winger Caey Lyons for a high tackle, and then Robbie Witt (again) for an incident oon the ground in a tackle.
Once again David Hala and Foisa Peni had great games in the forwards for Redcliffe well supported by prop Greg Malenstein and hooker and Captain Tim Benson, with Srtuart May damaging off the bench. In the backs Joel Romelo was outstanding as halfback, and centre Matt Gillett getting back towards his best form. For Burleigh prop Paul Smith, hooker Matt Francis and second-rower Dominick Devitt were the best of the forwards whislt five-eight Robbie Witt and fullback Matt Parata stood out in the backs.
Quite an amazing game of league!!
Penalties: Redcliffe 10 – 6; Scrums: Burleigh 8 – 3; Completion Rates: Redcliffe 29/42, Burleigh 20/29
Easts Tigers 44 (David Tyrell 3, Brent Kuskey 2, David Wood, Matthew Klein, David Georgiou, John Helu tries; Todd Hair 4 goals) def Wynnum Manly Seagulls 4 (Michael Chaplain try)
IN BRIEF:
The second hat-trick for the season for winger David Tyrrell featured in a surprisingly easy Easts win over Wynnum. Easts led 18-4 at the break and went on with in the second half racking up 8 tries as they benefited from the return of David Georgiou from a knee injury.
Norths Devils 52 (Will Chambers 3, Daniel Isaac 3, Luke Samoa 2, Jay Aston, Morgan Andrews, Jarrad Stack tries; Luke Samoa 3, Kieran Turner goals) def Tweed Heads Seagulls 4 (Brodie WIlliams try)
IN BRIEF:
Norths three-quarters ran riot, with centres Will Chambers and Daniel Isaac both grabbing hat-tricks against a tired Tweed outfit missing talented five-eight Trent Iselin and struggling to back up from yesterday's Southern Division commitments. Norths led 24-0 at half time and only poor Norths goal-kicking - only 4 of 11 tries converted - saved Tweed from a bigger scoreline.
MATCH PREVIEWS:
Certainly the best round of footy to date, and very tough for tipsters!
Souths Logan Magpies v Ipswich Jets Sat 11:45am Brandon Park
Both teams under strength with the Jets badly affected by the three Division trial at Gatton with eight players representing the Southern Division. Souths will also be missing the mercurial Chris Sandow who is at an Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) camp but they have plenty of talent still there and should be too strong for the understrength Jets who were desperately unlucky to go down to Aspley on Sunday. "THE COMPUTER" tips Souths-Logan by 12.
Aspley Devils v Western District Panthers Sat 3:30pm Kirby Park
Aspley just sneaked home against Ipswich in a disjointed performance last Sunday, whilst the Panthers struggled after a good start against the Wynnum-Manly Seagulls. Aspley coach Peter Ryan would really have impressed to his players that you can't just turn up and win, and the Panthers should come up against a fired up Aspley side, in a derby gamethat should reignite the memories of the Wests/Hills clashes last year. "THE COMPUTER" tips Aspley by 22.
Redcliffe Dolphins v Burleigh Bears Sun 11:45am Dolphin Oval
Three ripper games at 11.45am on Sunday, all of which could go either way. Redcliffe were impressive against Easts last week and would have won more easily except for a mistake ridden first half. Burleigh pushed Norths all the way and led in the second half before going down by 10, and they could be affected by up to 10 players backing up from the Southern Division trials on Saturday (given they get through injury-free). This will be balanced by Redcliffe being without inventive halfback Asher Elamani, but Joel Romelo slots in there so they shouldn't lose much. Redcliffe should have more running in their legs at the end and this could be the difference "THE COMPUTER" tips Redcliffe by 8.
Wynnum-Manly Seagulls v Easts Tigers Sun 11:45am BMD Kougari Oval
Wynnum-Manly easily accounted for Wests last week with Luke Menhinnit and Matt Aitken running off Matt Smoth with devastating effect. Easts struggled against Redcliffe but to their credit hung in there to eventually only go down by 8 points with only a converted try against them in the last minute inflating the margin. The Tigers have named David Georgiou at 5/8 which would be an enormous bonus, but even if he does play it is hard to imagin he would be 100% given he was initially ruled out for up to 6 weeks. "THE COMPUTER" tips Wynnum by 8.
MATCH OF THE ROUND:
Tweed Heads Seagulls v Norths Devils Sun 11:45am Piggabben
Match of the Round status for this game between two last-start winners. Tweed Heads served notice on the competition that they will be a real force at home with a 50-16 hammering of the Sunshine Coast in their first match at Piggabben last Sunday. Just the week before Norths had struggled to put away the Falcons, admittedly at Quad Park, but the Devils have just not really "clicked" since the competition started, although they oulasted the Bears last week. They could also be impacted by players having to move up to A Grade and Q Cup and will also miss nippy halfback Luke Capewell who is in AIS. On the other hand Tweed will have players backing up from the previous day's rep trials with 8 in the Southern Division side. Look for a big game from Tweed hooker-cum-halfback and captain Matt Lindsay who will be looking for a big game against his old club. "THE COMPUTER" tips Tweed by 4.
SUNSHINE COAST FALCONS BYE
