Round 19 of the Well Hung Glass and Aluminium 1st Grade competition saw some tough rugby played around the grounds with 3 blockbuster games taking place. The first game of the weekend saw JCU looking to claim their first scalp of the season against Charters Towers who were fresh off a bye. Over at Warrina Park, Burdekin made the trip into town to take on Teachers West at home. The final game, and arguably the match of the round took place at Mike Carney Toyota Park with the LARCS facing off against Brothers.
Game 1 – Charters Towers V University
The first game of the weekend saw a rejuvenated Charters Towers Bulls side make the trip into Townsville to face off against winless University. With University out of finals contention they set out to try and ruin any chance the Bulls had left of making the final four. After a relentless onslaught from University in the opening stages of the match, it was the Bulls who drew first blood, with a try to winger Simon Panuel off a blindside scrum play. With points on the board, the Bulls continued to mount the pressure on University, however Uni’s defence held strong to hold of countless raids to be down narrowly at half time. After the break, University came out firing with some physical defence that caught Charters Towers by surprise, however it was the bulls who stood strong running in three tries after the break to all but seal a victory for the visitors. University were rewarded for their efforts with a late try to Ben Caskey off a pick and drive. The final score saw Charters Towers prevail as eventual winners 24-7.
Charters Towers – 24 (Ronnie Berryman 1T, Jacob Day 1T, Billy Mitchell 1T, Simon Panuel 1T, Sam Knuth 2C)
University – 7 (Ben Caskey 1T, 1C)
Game 2 – Teachers West V Burdekin
Game 2 of round 19’s action saw Burdekin make the trip in to battle against Teachers West at home and were looking to make it two wins on the trot after crushing Brothers finals hopes last week in a nail biter. The Canetoads didn’t get off to the start they were after with the 4-time defending premiers running in 3 quick tries to start the match. The boys from the Burdekin manage to get their hands on the ball and showed what they were capable of however were unable to penetrate a defensive line which ultimately led to Teachers scoring a double through half-back Harry Willocks. After the halftime break the points kept coming for the home side with centre pairing Josh Fletcher and Josh Lamb running in 6 tries between them (hattrick each). Arguably the try of the match was scored by Teachers West’s hooker Lewayne Barrett, Barrett wound back the clock putting on some dazzling footwork, and showed impressive strength and speed to barrage his way through the Canetoads defensive line to find himself adding 5 points to his teams total. Teachers ran riot with the final score blowing out to 100-0.
Teachers West – 100 (Lewayne Barrett 1T, Hugh Huppatz 1T, Martin Brennan 1T, Rob Gillespie 1T, Harry Willocks 2T, Nick Poole 1T, Josh Lamb 3T, Curtis Rayment 2T, Michael Kepper-Owens 1T, Josh Fletcher 3T, 10C)
Burdekin – 0
Game 3 – LARCS V Brothers
The final game of the round took place at Mike Carney Toyota Park and was set up to be the match of the round with Brothers taking on the LARCS. With two narrow losses to the LARCS the last two times these team met, Brothers were eager to get off to a flyer and mount the pressure on the Army boys early. Brothers could not have got off to a better start with Halfback Dexter Anderson ducking and weaving his way through numerous tackles to run 50 metres and score next to the uprights. The LARCS however, known for the physicality, took it up another level with some bone crunching defence, forcing several mistakes from their opposition which ultimately led to them taking a 19-7 lead into the break. The second half of the match saw LARCS winger Jordan Pedro-Geeman in open space on multiple occasions, showing his speed and unrivalled footwork to cross for a double inside 10 minutes. With 15 minutes left on the clock, Brothers looked to stage a late comeback however fell short of victory with a late try to Spencer Anderson taking the final score line to 45-14 in favour of the LARCS.
LARCS – 45 (Toutai Leger 1T, Anthony Uili 1T, Dylan Johnson 1T, Nathan Milne 1T, Jordan Pedro-Geeman 2T, Ben Pearson 1T, 4C)
Brothers – 14 (Dexter Anderson 1T, Spencer Andersen 1T, Ayden Pyper 1C, Matt Rauch 1C)
Round 20 action will have the race for a final’s berth the closest it’s been all year. Teachers West host JCU at Warrina Park for the Bulldogs Ladies Day. North Ward will travel down to the Burdekin, with both sides needing a victory to cement their top 4 finish. The final match of the round will see a must win game for both Charters Towers and the LARCS as they clash at Mike Carney Toyota Park. Brothers have the bye.
Be sure to head on down and support your team, for game times head over to the website.
