The Ipswich Jets broke their away ground hoodoo against Tweed Heads in emphatic fashion yesterday, defeating the Seagulls 28-10 in their elimination final at Piggabeen.
In cold, windy and wet conditions, Ipswich muscled up in defence to end a run of 13 consecutive defeats against the Tweed south of the border.
The Jets were called on to defend their own line set after set and they kept coming up with the big defensive play.
Ipswich got the attacking ball rolling in the 12th minute when Kurt Capewell finished off a movement to the left hand side and scored in the corner to give them the start that they had talked about all week.
The game became a real finals hit out with both teams settling into their play and exchanging sets until some poor marker defence and a break by James Wood saw Jamal Fogarty score for Tweed.
At 4-4 after 26 minutes the game settled down again until the Ipswich iron man Rod Griffin scored his second try this year, running a straight and hard line on the left Griffin was never going to be stopped and touched down to give the Jets a 10-4 lead going into half time.
A few punters at Tweed would have been forgiven for thinking that with one minute until the break a chance to go get a drink and stretch your legs was the smart option.
But this Jets side doesn’t know how to wind down the clock and play safe. They attacked with ball movement and support play that saw them go the field with Liam Capewell scoring in the left hand corner. Marmin missed again and the Jets went to the break at 14-4.
In the first half Jets’ hooker Matty Parcell had taken his more experienced rival Matt King to school on dummy half running while Dane Phillips directed the Jets around the field with great poise. The Jets had scored two tries in two minutes and blitzed the Seagulls with their attacking football.
The second half started for the Jets with a Marmin Barba special. Wes Conlon made the break and found Barba on the inside to score his 21st try this year and go within one try of equalling the club record 22. Barba converted and after 42 minutes the Jets were now up 20-4.
The Jets had scored three tries in three minutes but now it was time to showcase their defence, for the next 25 minutes the Jets repelled anything the Seagulls threw at them. Somehow Ipswich Jets players found a way to get in the way of any Seagull that dared try to cross their line.
Almost at a physical stand still and with players begging not to do anymore defence the Ipswich Jets’ Wes Conlon executed a one on one steal and ran 70 meters to score and take the Jets to 26-4 with 13 minutes to go.
The Tweed’s Ricardo Parata finished a slick backline movement towards the right hand corner and gave the Seagulls a very faint hope at 26-10 with six minutes to go.
Tweed finished the match with 12 men after King was sent from the field by referee Clayton Sharpe for an alleged head butt.
The send off followed a spiteful incident in which Tweed’s James Wood was placed on report for a high tackle on Josh Cleeland.
Elimination Final:
Tweed Heads Seagulls v Ipswich Jets at Piggabeen Sports on Sunday, September 7 - 2pm
IPSWICH JETS 28 (Marmin Barba, Kurt Capewell, Rod Griffin, Liam Capewell, Wes Conlon tries; Marmin Barba 3, Kurtis Lingwoodock goals) def TWEED HEADS SEAGULLS 10 (Ricardo Parata, Jamal Fogarty tries; Blake Anderson goal) at Piggabeen Sports.
Final teams
Tweed Heads Seagulls: 1. Tom Merritt 2. Ricardo Parata 3. Luke Dumas 4. James Wood (c) 5. Blake Anderson 6. Jamal Fogarty 7. Michael Burgess 8. Reg Saunders 9. Matt King (c) 10. Damian Sironen 11. Ayden Lee 18. Matt Parata 13. Sam Saville 14. Sam Irwin 15. Chris Piper 16. Trent Richardson 17. Pele Peletelese
Ipswich Jets: 18. Marmin Barba 2. Kurt Capewell 3. Nemani Valekapa 4. Brendon Marshall 5. Carlin Anderson 6. Josh Cleeland 7. Dane Phillips 8. Kurtis Lingwoodock 9. Troy O`Sullivan 10. Rod Griffin 11. Liam Capewell 12. Sam Martin 13. Keiron Lander (c) 14. Billy McConnachie 19. Wes Conlon 21. Rob Worsley 22. Matt Parcell
