Video highlights from Intrust Super Cup Round 24 - Sunshine Coast Falcons V Wynnum Manly Seagulls at Sunshine Coast Stadium, Kawana. 3.00pm Sunday August 21, 2016.
MATCH REPORT
A stirring second-half fightback by the Vantage Homes Sunshine Coast Falcons has secured the club an Intrust Super Cup finals berth after holding out Wynnum Manly 30-28 at Sunshine Coast Stadium on Sunday.
Trailing 22-10 at half-time, the Falcons piled on four unanswered tries after the break while keeping the Seagulls at bay until the dying stages of the match.
The two-point victory sees the Falcons maintain fifth spot on the ladder, one competition point ahead of Souths Logan and three points behind the PNG Hunters, who they play in Port Moresby next Sunday.
Notching his 100th Intrust Super Cup match as a coach, Falcons mentor Craig Ingebrigsten was enormously proud of how far his side has come since he moved to the club from Easts Tigers at the beginning of the year.
"It's not about me today, it's about our club," Ingebrigsten said.
"To see this club be in a position to play semi-finals is a dream come true for me. To be where we are today I'm a little bit emotional because it's been a long, hard road and the club took a punt on me (as coach) and I took a punt on the club."
The Falcons were first to score in the fourth minute when five-eighth Alex Bishop delivered a short ball to Ryley Jacks who spotted a gap in the defensive line to score his 16th try of the season and break the previous Falcons' try-scoring record held by Shane Neumann.
Wynnum Manly dominate possession following the Falcons' try and eventually turned pressure into points when centre Mitch Cronin leapt high off the ground to grasp a cross-field kick which handed the Seagulls a 6-4 lead after 16 minutes.
Jacks claimed his second try of the afternoon in the 21st minute when he took the line on himself with the Seagulls failing to bring him down before the whitewash.
The Seagulls struck back in the 30th minute through winger Greg Eden, who latched onto a looping cut-out pass to score in the corner and level the scoreboard at 10-10.
History repeated for the Falcons four minutes later when Eden scored again in the corner and Patrick Templeman's conversion took the 'Gulls out to a 16-10 lead.
A try to Wynnum centre Mitch Buckett shortly before half-time opened up a 22-10 lead for the Seagulls heading into the sheds.
In the 48th minute a 70-metre run by Curtis Scott put the Falcons on the front foot and opposite centre Richie Kennar polished off Scott's barnstorming run moments later when he powered over the line to hand the home team some much needed momentum.
Wynnum Manly's restart went out on the full and from the resulting set winger Callum Klein snuck over in the corner to see the Falcons only trailing by two points.
The Falcons began to surge as they found easy metres through the middle of the park and in the 65th minute Eddie Tautali placed a perfect cross-field grubber kick in the direction of captain Troy Giess who scored next to the posts.
Joe Stimson's conversion handed the Falcons back the lead at 26-22 with 14 minutes remaining.
Sunshine Coast keep pressing for more points and Kennar found the line again after muscling his way over the chalk to take the lead beyond a converted try at 30-22.
The Seagulls reclaimed ball from the restart and scored moments later through halfback Andrew Booth to bring them within two points with two minutes left on the clock, but the Falcons held on in the dying seconds to claim their 12th win of the season and their fifth victory in a row.
