The second last round of regular season games would prove to be vital as there were finals spots still up for grabs. First game of the round saw North Ward travel out to Burdekin for their annual ladies’ day in a must win clash for the home side. Back in Townsville, Teachers West hosted University in what was also their club’s annual ladies’ day. The final game of the round and arguably the match of the round took place at Mike Carney Toyota Park with Charters Towers making the trip in to face off against the LARCS, with a win for the Bulls securing their place in the finals.
Game 1 – North Ward V Burdekin
Saturday saw North Ward travel down to Ayr to take on Burdekin at home in front of a stellar crowd for their Ladies day. With Burdekin needing a victory to stay alive in the competition and make the final four, they needed to start well and start aggressively. The start they didn’t want was for North Ward to dominate through their forward pack early on resulting in a try to both Zac Ollington and Nathan Diedrichs. With the Canetoads known for putting on a show in front of their home crowd, they threw everything at North Ward, playing some running rugby however were unable to crack the defensive line until after halftime when winger Olly Hutson dove into the corner untouched. A late try to centre Sam Bradley was the icing on the cake for the visitors who ran away with victory 30-7, keeping the Canetoads one win away from their place in the 2019 finals.
North Ward – 30 (Zac Ollington 1T, Nathan Diedrichs 1T, John Gallagher 1T, Same Bradley 1T, Matt Corrigan 1C, 1P)
Burdekin – 7 (Olly Hutson 1T, Andrew Kennedy 1C)
Game 2 – Teachers West V University
Second game of the round took place at Warrina Park with University taking on competition heavyweights Teachers West at home in front of a bumper crowd for the Bulldogs annual Ladies Day. After an awesome day of rugby, it was University who came out of the blocks firing with a charge down by Alex Vile resulting in a try under the posts, putting University in front 7-0. After a slight scare, the Bulldogs quickly regained the ascendency over their opponents with two quick, well-worked tries to flying winger Nick Poole. After the break saw much of the same, with Teachers putting on a clinical second half performance to see Flanker Martin Brennan rewarded with his fourth try of the match. University tried their hardest to stem the scoring but were unable to do so with the final score resulting in a Teachers West victory in front of their home crowd 63 points to 7.
Teachers West – 63 (Martin Brennan 4T, Nick Poole 2T, Louis Richietti 1T, Clinton Drane 1T, Tyson Morgan 8C)
University – 7 (Alex Vile 1T, 1C)
Game 3 – Charters Towers V LARCS
The final match of the round took place at Mike Carney Toyota Park with Charters Towers venturing in to take on the LARCS. The Bulls needed to start strong, as they knew a victory would all but cement them a place in the TDRU finals. As expected, the game began with some brutal hits with both sides trying to assert their dominance early on, but it was the LARCS who overcame the brutal defence and were the beneficiaries of early possession scoring the first two tries of the match. In typical Bulls fashion, the boys from the bush fought back with a try to second rower Fraser Turner after barnstorming run through the middle of the park. After the break the LARCS looked to extend there lead and did so with tries to their centre pairing of Nathan Milne and Jackson Pearson. With time running out for the Bulls, they tried one last play, however, a loose pass resulted in LARCS flyhalf Scott Doulis scooping up the loose ball to run away and seal their victory 31-7.
LARCS – 31 (Filipe Tagituimua 1T, Scott Doulis 1T, Nathan Milne 1T, Zac Holliday 1T, Jackson Pearson 1T, 3C)
Charters Towers – 7 (Fraser Turner 1T, Sam Knuth 1C)
The final round of regular season games will see the match of the round take place in Charters Towers on Friday night, with the finals hopes of Charters Towers and the Burdekin resting on this fixture – with the winner progressing into the top 4. Brothers will take on University on Friday night with both sides looking to finish their season with a victory. The final game of the round will see North Ward clash with the LARCS which is sure to be a blockbuster. Teachers West have the bye before finals commence next week.
