Round 15 kicked off with Redcliffe travelling across town to take on a Centenary side weakened by the unavailability of three Brisbane players. Given the form they displayed in the second half against Souths, Redcliffe must have given themselves a real chance, but the remaining Centenary players lifted to the occasion and started well to lead 10-0 in as many minutes. From that point on, it was a matter of clinging to their lead, and as Arana had found 3 nights earlier, the Centenary defence is very hard to crack. Each time the Dolphins closed the gap, Centenary countered eventually running out 23-14 victors. In the other Friday night game, Redlands dominated Easts in the first half to lead 30-0 at the break. As against Logan Brothers, the Tigers rallied in the second half, but it was not enough and the Parakeets ran out 38-6 victors.
In the early Sunday game, Souths were looking to put their seconf half collapse against Redcliffe behind them against Slacks Ck. After 15 minutes the game was evemly balanced at 8 all, but Souths put on a spurt to lead 24-8 at the break. A try to the Magpies just after half-time could have signalled a rout, but to Slacks Ck credit they continued to try hard and were rewarded with three tries in the second stanza to eventually go down 38-20. This win, Souths' first in 6 games allowed them to move back into 5th place on for and against over Redcliffe.
The final Sunday game turned out to be an absolute thriller, between two teams decimated by injury. For Arana the competition lead was on the line, and for Logan Bros their winning streak extending back to April. Arana started well and were rewarded with a try when a neat offload from Brent put Alex F over in the corner in the 5th minute. The next 15 minutes were very tight with Logan Bros eventually getting on the board from a bomb to level the scores at 4 apiece. However Arana seemed to take a stranglehold on the match just before halftime with 2 quick tries - the first when Alex F made it a double by flying high to take an Akex T crossfield kick, and the second when Dean scored his first try of the season following some quick passing and offloads close to the line. The home side went even further ahead 8 minutes after the break when Nash dashed through a big gap and a 16 point lead with 20 minutes to go should have been enough. The Logan Bros boys were having none of that however and stormed back to put on 3 tries in 12 minutes and draw level. Both sides had opportunities to put the match away in the final frenentic minutes, but errors by players and team officials saw the chances disappear and a 20 all draw was a fitting result to a great contest.
By the minute:
5th: Alex F try Arana 4-0
22nd: Logan Bros try 4-4
27th: Alex F try Arana 8-4
30th: Dean try/Luke conv Arana 14-4 (HT)
38th: Nash try/Luke conv Arana 20-4
42nd: Logan Bros try/conv Arana 20-10
50th: Logan Bros try Arana 20-14
54th: Logan Bros try/conv 20-20 (F/T)
The weekend's results see Arana hang on to the competition lead on 25 pts, followed by Redlands and Centenary on 24 and Logan Bros on 23. Souths make up the five on 17 pts, ahead of Redcliffe only on for-and-against. Easts on 10 and Slacks Ck on 4 bring up the tail.
Brad T
14/7/2002
