A warm, windy day greeted the four teams participating in the first weekend of the semis at the home ground of minor premiers Redlands. A last minute refereeing change saw two quality replacements having to officiate in the Elimination Semi, with Qld Cup and former ARL referee Tony Maksoud doing the centre, assisted by the Webmaster on the line.
Centenary started the better in the early game with Tim Mc scoring and converting the opening try from a break from fullback Joe. After some sustained attack Souths struck back to level the scores with 10 minutes gone. The next 15 minutes was tight with both sides' defence dominating, with the highlight being an ongoing battle between Souths prop Beau and Centenary lock Nick, until a dropped ball from a bomb gifted Centenary 6 points 4 minutes before halftime. Tim McIlwain knocked over a field goal just before halftime to give the Panthers a 7 point lead at "oranges", 13-6. After the break it was a very physical Souths side that resumed the field, shocking Centenary with 2 quick tries (one converted brilliantly by Mase from the sideline) to lead 16-13. From this point on the lead see-sawed right to the end, with both sides desperate to keep their seasons alive. With Centenary leading 25-22 with 2 minutes to go, the big Souths centre was pulled down just centimetres short of the line on the sixth tackle in a critical play. Right on full-time Souths had one more chance but the Centenary fullback cleaned up, and rather than take the safe option of taking the tackle, he chipped ahead twice to score one of the most spectacular tries of the season to give Centenary their final 7 point margin, 29-22. This was a great start to the finals series.
By the minute:
5th min: Centenary try/conv; Centenary 6-0
10th min: Souths try/conv; 6-6
25th min: Centenary tryconv; Centenary 12-6
29th min: Centenary f.g.; Centenary 13-6 (HT)
34th min: Souths try; Centenary 13-10
38th min: Souths try/conv; Souths 16-13
43rd min: Centenary try/conv; Centenary 19-16
46th min: Souths try/conv; Souths 22-19
53rd min: Centenary try/conv; Centenary 25-22
60th min: Centenary try; Centenary 29-22 (FT)
Logan Bros started much the better in the Qualifying semi and were rewarded with a try to Matt Sepelini in the 6th minute to lead 4-0. Only desperation defence, including great tackles from Arana fullback Luke and winger Alex F, stopped Logan Bros extending their lead. During this time Mitchell, Nash and Matt had to leave the field and the Panther's bench was stretched to the limit. Arana finally got on the board in the 23rd minute when a wide pass put Doug over in the corner for his first try of the season. Unfortunately he was hurt soon after, followed by Brent and Arana were down to 12 men until Matt hauled himself back onto the field. Right on the stroke of halftime, a bomb from Alex T saw Phippsy pluck the ball from the air to score, and grab an unlikely 8-4 lead at the break. Strapper Wayne worked overtime during the interval to get some of the injured troops patched up and back onto the field for the second half, and when Brendan dashed over from dummy-half 5 minutes into the second stanza, Alex T's conversion saw the margin extended to 10 points. Logan used the strong wind to their advantage with the kick-off going dead, and from the ensuing restart scored a simple try when the Arana defence held off the half-back and the Brethren were back within 4 points. Two great individual tries from Alex T, which he punctuated with one of the best try-saving tackles imaginable when Matt Sepelini seemed certain to score his second try, stretched Arana's lead to 14 with 9 minutes remaining. Two late tries to Logan brought the scores closer together, but the result had been sealed when Alex T knocked over a field goal for an 11 point lead with 5 minutes to go. Once again this was great semi-final football.
By the minute:
6th min: Logan Bros try; Logan Bros 4-0
23rd min: Doug H try; 4-4
30th min: James P try; Arana 8-4 (HT)
35th min: Brendan A try/Alex T conv; Arana 14-4
37th min: Logan Bros try/conv; Arana 14-10
42nd min: Alex T try; Arana 18-10
50th min: Alex T try/conv; Arana 24-10
53rd min: Logan Bros try; Arana 24-14
55th min: Alex T f.g.; Arana 25-14
60th min: Logan Bros try/conv; Arana 25-20 (FT)
This was a gutsy effort from an Arana team expected to struggle against the resurgent Brethren, and they will be looking forward to the clash with Redlands for a spot in the Grand Final, whilst there will certainly be no quarter asked or given in the Logan Bros/Centenary knockout semi.
Congratulations to all four teams for the standard of football and sportsmanship displayed in these games - everyone was a credit to their clubs. Commiserations to the Magpies on dipping out, after a great performance this year.
Brad T
1/9/2002
