It was the start everyone has come to expect from the Townsville & Districts Mendi Blackhawks as they notched up 12 unanswered points in the first 10 minutes of their match against local rivals the Northern Pride.
The second try was long-range effort from Tom Humble that brought the crowd to their feet on a day where the Blackhawks took to the field proudly wearing pink in celebration of Women in League round at Jack Manski Oval.
At the 26 minute mark the Pride hit back, crossing for their first try of the match via Hezron Murgha, ensuring they stayed in touch with the home side with a score line of 12-6.
The end of the first half did not go as planned for the visitors however, as the Blackhawks ran in four further tries including two to in-form winger Zac Santo.
The first Santo try was an 80m runaway after a special ball from Moses Pangai set the speedster down the sideline with Pride chasers unable to reign him in.
The second was an impressive show of athleticism that saw Santo place the ball barely inches inside the line after a chasing down a kick. The three quick tries sent the home side to the break with a lead of 32-6.
During the second half, Santo notched up another hat-trick, his second in as many games, and Pangai announced his return from injury with a try of his own.
Townsville showed typical grit in defence during the first 65 minutes of the match muscling their opposition and starving them for points.
Some complacency crept in during the final 15 minutes as the visitors ran in three tries to take the score to a more respectable 42-24.
Coach Kristian Woolf said he was pleased with his team’s efforts in both defence and attack in Round 15.
“Whilst it was disappointing we dropped our intensity in the last 15 minutes, the majority of the game was played at an excellent standard against a quality opposition,” Woolf said.
“Our key positions of Mitchell at 9, Parker-Walshe and Hughes in the halves; and Humble at fullback combined very well in attack and our middles lead by Beasley, Costigan and McLean were nice and physical in the middle.”
TOWNSVILLE BLACKHAWKS 42 (Zac Santo 3, Michael Parker- Walshe 2, Jahrome Hughes, Mosese Pangai, Tom Humble tries; Tom Humble 4, Corey Jensen goals) def NORTHERN PRIDE 24 (Hezron Murgha, Brett Anderson, Luke George, Vaipuna Tia Kilifi tries; Linc Port 4 goals) at Jack Manski Oval.
Final teams:
Townsville Blackhawks: 1. Jahrome Hughes 2. Zac Santo 3. Noel Underwood 4. Mosese Pangai 5. Jonathan Reuben 18. Samsen O’Neill 7. Michael Parker-Walshe 8. Lorenzo Ma’afu 9. Anthony Mitchell 10. Daniel Beasley (c) 11. Chris Mclean 12. Rhyse Martin 13. Neville Costigan 14. Tom Humble 15. Corey Jensen 21. Kelepi Tanginoa 19. Ricky Thorby
Northern Pride: 1. Hezron Murgha 2. Linc Port 3. Brett Anderson (c) 4. Luke George 5. Semi Tadulala 6. Ryan Ghietti 7. Sam Obst 8. Jack Svendsen 9. Jason Roos (c) 10. Patrick Kaufusi 11. Vaipuna Tia Kilifi 12. Graham Clark 13. Ben Spina 18. Denzel King 15. Tom Hancock 16. Sheldon Powe Hobbs 17. David Murphy
