After a dreadful season opening, it was a Round 9 clash between these two teams that sparked Wynnum’s return to form, with the Seagulls getting the win at Barlow Park.
Despite a spirited fight back in the second half, Wynnum claimed victory once more, and would be hoping that it would again serve as a winning catalyst moving into the “business end” of the season.
An injury scare would mark the start of the game for the Seagulls with hooker Alehana Mara taken off with a suspected concussion in the second tackle of the game, but fortunately for the home side, returned later in the half.
Mitch Moore would step in suitably off the bench during that period, darting out of dummy-half to serve up the first try to lock-forward Nicholas Harrold.
Wynnum Manly owned a daunting share of the ball in the first half. On the other hand, the Pride were starved of possession amongst the errors, repeat sets and penalties that mounted early in the game as the constant drizzle of rain wreaked havoc for the visitors.
Patrick Templeman and winger Hayden Crowley would combine for the next score; the Seagulls captain pushing up after an offload before poking a grubber through for Crowley who would return the favour by kicking back for his skipper for his 12th try of the season.
The defence would eventually stiffen for the Pride, warranting enough respect for Wynnum to opt for a Mathew Seamark penalty goal in the 22nd minute rather than another probe at the line.
The second third saw structure start to build for the Pride, but unforced errors would continue to dampen any real attacking opportunities for Joe O’Callaghan’s troops.
Daniel Ogden would later follow up an Adam Tuimavave-Gerrard offload to add another to his try tally for the ‘Gulls and Templeman would contribute another penalty goal to top off the one-way Wynnum traffic for the first half.
The second half opened with a Pride revival during the opening minutes, fullback Linc Port taking the line on before sniffing out some space on the blindside to send Luke George over in the right hand corner.
Five minutes later, the Pride found points down their opposite flank when Khan Ahwang raced away for another counter-attacking blow to draw the score closer. His unsuccessful sideline conversion attempt however would keep the score at a 14-point buffer.
Wynnum would eventually find a way to stem the bleeding, recapturing control of the game and eventually finding the dagger in an untimely bounce for Pride fullback Port that would lead to a gift-wrapped four-pointer to back-rower Alex Barr.
See the final team line-up and full scoring details for this game via QRL Live
WYNNUM MANLY SEAGULLS 28 (Nicholas Harrold, Patrick Templeman, Daniel Ogden, Alex Barr tries; Mathew Seamark 5, Patrick Templeman goals) def NORTHERN PRIDE 8 (Luke George, Khan Ahwang tries) at BMD Kougari Oval.
