Perfect conditions for Week 2 of the finals with Redlands and Arana clashing in the Major Semi at Scott Park, and Logan Brothers and Centenary fighting to stay alive in the knockout semi at Pinklands.
Arana travelled to Scott Park to take on minor Premiers Redlands hoping to reverse the result of the Chairman's Trophy game, in which Redlands got away to an early lead and couldn't be pegged back. Unfortunately for the Panthers it was a case of "deja vu" with Redlands leading by 12-0 after 9 minutes through converted tries to Trent and Ben. Ten minutes later Ben cut through to score his second try, and another runaway try from an Arana mistake before the break and it was all over with the Parakeets leading 22-0. Arana tried hard in the second half, but it just wasn't their day and the 40-0 final score showed just that. Redlands were crisp in their execution, and defended well throughout, and showed they will be very tough to beat in the decider.
By the minute:
3rd min: Redlands try/conv; Redlands 6-0
8th min: Redlands try/conv; Redlands 12-0
20th min: Redlands try; Redlands 16-0
24th min: Redlands try/conv; Redlands 22-0 (HT)
40th min: Redlands try/conv; Redlands 28-0
52nd min: Redlands try/conv; Redlands 34-0
58th min: Redlands try/conv; Redlands 40-0 (FT)
Centenary and Logan Bros returned to Pinklands knowing it would be the end of the seaon for one of them. Defence wins games and this certainly was the way Centenary won this one. Logan made an early mistake at the dummy half and Tim Mc found Lauchlan W running onto the ball wide out from the scrum win to score wide out in the first couple of minutes. Then it was a see soaring game for a while with Logan Bros nearly scoring on a couple of occasions with only last ditch defence stopping them inches short. On the back of a 40-20 kick by Tim Mc the Panthers scored again via another back line movement with full back Joe Chudleigh scoring wide out 15 minutes into the game. Logan bounced back to make it 8-4 but allowed Centenary to power over for a crucial converted try just minutes out from half time allowing Centenary to go to the break with a handy 14-4 lead. It was very tight for the next 20 minutes with both sides throwing everything at each other. Logan looking good a few times but missed vital opportunities with the last pass going forward on at least three occasions. Logan were rewarded finally when Matt Sepelini scored right in the corner and with the kick being unsuccessful the score was 14-8. Then on the back of another long 40-20 kick by Tim Mc, Lagi Setu scored close to the post for an 18-8 lead with 12 minutes remaining. Logan then tried everything to score for the next 6 minutes but the defence held tight. On the back of another 40-20 by Tim Mc, Matty Marshall scored wide out to secure the win. Logan got a 6 pointer in the last 90 seconds to make the final score 24-14.
By the minute:
3rd min: Centenary try; Centenary 4-0
15th min: Centenary try; Centenary 8-0
22nd min: Logan Bros try; Centenary 8-4
28th min: Centenary try/conv; Centenary 14-4 (HT)
44th min: Logan Bros try; Centenary 14-8
48th min: Centenary try; Centenary 18-8
54th min: Centenary try/conv; Centenary 24-8
59th min: Logan Bros try/conv; Centenary 24-14 (FT)
So Redlands are in the Grand Final again, with the Panthers to battle it out next weekend in the Preliminary Final.
Brad T
8/9/2002
