Round 11 opened on Friday night with the clash of two teams in equal second place, Redlands and Souths. Both teams were coming off losses and were facing a drop further down the ladder if they lost. In what was an entertaining game however, the Parakeets used their home ground advantage well to outplay the Magpies in the "battle of the birds" to record a 36-18 win after leading 20-12 at halftime. Souths looked dangerous at times but were unable to sustain enough consistent pressure to get on top of the defending premiers. It was a welcome return to form for Redlands and a good confidence booster going in to the Flag match next week.
In the early game on Sunday, Easts travelled to Redcliffe with thought of avenging their narrow first round lost at the same ground. The game turned out to be almost a carbon copy of the that game, but this time the Tigers prevailed when a Redcliffe conversion attempt after a last minute try went wide leaving Easts with an upset 16-14 win. This is the Tiger's first win over a team in the top five and will be an enormous confidence builder, particularly as Redcliffe beat the competition leaders last time out. Some teams seemed to have suffered from having a week off and Redcliffe were no exception. They will be looking to bounce back against Slacks Ck next week.
Centenary travelled to Logan Brothers and as expected it was a hard, tough encounter. Centenary were hit by the withdrawal of Brisbane rep Matt Marchall before the game with an ankle injry, and further injuries during the game saw them reduced to 12 men, including two up from U13. Despite this they were still in the game, down only 14-12 with 15 minutes to go. A "40-20" at this stage to Logan Bros turned out to be the game breaker, with a converted try pushing their lead to 8 points. A late touchdown saw the final score 24-12. Logan have moved into equal 3rd with this victory and are shaping as a real threat for the premiership after their disappointing start.
The round concluded with Arana hosting the Slacks Creek Lions, who had re-committed to the "A" comp during the week after having to forfeit last week. Arana were none-too-hospitable hosts however and played near faultless football in the first half to lead 38-0 at half-time. To Slacks Ck credit however, they came out with renewed purpose in the second half and held Arana to 8-6 for the next 20 minutes, before a late surge saw the Panthers rack up 4 tries in the last 10 minutes to run out 68-6 victors. Luke bagged 20 points for Arana from a try and 8 goals, with Alex F scoring a hat-trick in an impressive performance. It was also great to see Rohan get through his comeback game without incident. Brent and Matt stood out in the forwards, well backed up by Scott, with Brendan his normal nippy self, bagging a double with great bursts from dummy-half. Josey was non-stop as usual bringing up 150 tackles and 100 hit-ups for the year in this match. In the backs Roger stood out with some great runs and Josh and Nash also bagged doubles with solid performances in both attack and defence. This was certainly a good hit-out in preparation for next week's important game.
The weekend's results saw no change in the competition order (based on for and against) although effectively Logan Bros have move into equal third place on the ladder with Souths, Centenary and Redcliffe, all four teams on 14 points. Redlands on 16 are in second, with Arana maintaining a four point cushion at the top. Easts win moves them to 8 points, with Slacks Creek on 4.
Brad T
2/6/2002
