A dominant first half from the Souths Logan Magpies set them on their way to defeating the Norths Devils 42-20 at Bishop Park yesterday afternoon.
While the Devils were down on troops with Jai Arrow rewarded for his consistency in the Intrust Super Cup with an NRL debut and fellow forward Brett Greinke making the move south to join the Rabbitohs; they simply did not aim up to the Magpies level of enthusiasm early on in the match.
Souths Logan were quick out of the blocks with forwards Leon Panapa and Dan Tamou both going over within the first five minutes.
The Devils were able to get one back through Matiu Love-Henry 10 minutes into the match – but that was to be the home side’s only points of first half.
In complete contrast – Souths Logan ran in four more tries – including Joe Boyce picking up his second on the stroke of halftime for a dominant 36-6 lead at the break.
This came despite the visiting Magpies losing hooker Ben Jackson who left the field mid-way through the first half with a broken wrist.
The Devils started the second half as they had to with skipper Billy Brittain doing his bit to chip back the deficit, running in under the posts, evading Souths defenders on the way over to score.
Love-Henry got his double 10 minutes later on the left side and when Jarryd Dodd crossed with 10 minutes remaining to bring the scores to 36-20; the home fans were hoping an unlikely upset was a possibility.
However, the Magpies finally had some time with the ball made sure they had the final say of the day with Panapa getting his double after he busted free of the last-line of Devils defenders and swan dived over to seal the win.
While disappointed with the loss, there were a few positives for the Devils, including the performance of Colt Jack Miers on debut who made a contribution to many of their scoring plays, impressing the coaching staff with his involvement.
Next week, the Devils travel to Redcliffe to face the Dolphins, while the Magpies are heading to the Sunshine Coast to face the Falcons.
See the full scoring details and final team lists for this game via QRL Live
SOUTHS LOGAN MAGPIES 42 (Joe Boyce 2, Leon Panapa 2, Dan Tamou, AJ Tuimavave, Samuel Scarlett tries; Scott Doyle 5, Benjamin Jackson 2 goals) def NORTHS DEVILS 20 (Matiu Love-Henry 2, William Brittain, Jarryd Dodd tries; William Brittain 2 goals) at Bishop Park.
