Yet another forfeit this weekend with Souths forfeiting to Redcliffe.
The first Friday night game saw Norths host a 12 man Centenary at Bishop Park. Despite the lack of numbers Centenary took it to the competition leaders and it wasn't all one way traffic. Despite losing another player to the sin-bin the visitors held the home side to a 26-10 lead at half-time. Norths put the foot down after half-time and raced away to a 54-10 lead but to Centenary's credit they didn't throw in the towel and scored the last 3 tries of the match for a final score of 54-26.
Logan Brothers travelled to Tallowood Park also on Friday night to take on Springwood in a game critical to the makeup of the tgop 4. Logan Brothers started well and opened the scoring after 10 minutes with a try on the fifth tackle. Springwood equalised five minutes later with a blind side move from the scrum, with the conversion nudging the home side ahead 6-4. The next two tries, both to Springwood, had an element of luck with the first from a charge down and the second from an Ashley intercept and 95 metre run when Logan Bros seemed certain to score. The half-time score of 14-4 probably flattered the home side, and Logan Bros cam out with renewed vigour in the second half. Unfortunately 2 minutes into the half the lights went out, resulting in a 20 minute delay to the game. When the game resumed it was Springwood who were fired up and the ran in an incredible three tries in four minutes to take an unassailable 30-4 lead with over twenty minutes remaining. There were plenty of willing exchanges during this period, but neither side was able to add to the score, with this victory wrapping up a top two finish for Springwood.
Minute by minute:
10th min: Logab Bros 3 try; Logan Bros 4-0
15th min: Springwood-2 try/7-conv; Springwood 6-4
18th min: Springwood-7 try; Springwood 10-4
24th min: Springwood-2 try; Springwood 14-4
FIRST HALF STATS: Penalties: 3-3; Completions: Springwood 11/17 (64.7%); Logan Bros 10/15 (66.7%)
34th min: Springwood-3 try/7-conv; Springwood 20-4
36th min: Springwood-13 try; Springwood 24-4
38th min: Springwood-2 try/7-conv; Springwood 30-4
SECOND HALF STATS: Penalties: Logan Bros 4-3; Completions: Springwood 12/16 (75.0%); Logan Bros 5/9 (55.6%)
TOTAL STATS: Penalties: Logan Bros 7-6; Completions: Springwood 23/33 (69.7%); Logan Bros 15/24 (62.5%)
The Sunday game saw Easts host Arana at Scott Park. This turned out to be a very entertaining match with both sides throwing the ball around. In the end it was Easts who took advantage of a number of Arana mistakes, and the Panther's poor finishing, to turn a 16-14 half-time lead into a 32-28 victory, their second over Arana at Scott Park this year.
With one round remaining, Norths hold the competition lead on 31 points with Springwood in the critical 2nd position on 30. Redcliffe are on 28 points with Logan Bros on 24 with a match in hand, meaning the major semi will be Norths and Springwood, with th knockout semi Redcliffe and Logan Brothers. Arana on 18, Centenary on 16, Easts on 11 and Souths are out of contention.
Brad T
22/8/2004
