Northern Pride halfback Sam Obst stood up when his team needed him, producing a match-winning play minutes from full time to steal the match for the defending champions 21-20 over the Wynnum Manly Seagulls at BMD Kougari Oval last night.
The Pride were down 20-15 when the halfback fielded the ball on the last tackle 20m out from the try line, knowing it was probably their last chance to secure a victory.
Obst jinked off his left foot, got around some tired Wynnum Manly defenders and broke through the line, linking up with a charging Tom Hancock backing up the middle who scored under the posts.
Hezron Murgha made no mistake with the conversion directly in front, to break the hearts of the home side.
Centre Mitchell Buckett got the home crowd on their feet when he caught a short kick-off in the dying seconds, however the Pride were able to hold out the home side in a frantic final set to record an important win in their 2015 Intrust Super Cup campaign.
Missing a number of their stars who were called up to the North Queensland Cowboys, Joe O’Callaghan’s men will take a lot of confidence from the tough away win against one of the competition’s heavyweights.
The Pride’s Bradley Stephen opened the scoring when a well-orchestrated scrum move saw Murgha find his winger with a long ball.
Greg Eden responded for the Seagulls after a short-side play between half Patrick Templeman and fullback Daniel Ogden found the winger alone in the corner.
However Ogden would suffer some bad luck later in the half when a devilish bounce from an Obst chip kick landed in the arms of a chasing Luke George for the try, putting the visitors in front 10-6.
The halfback then recorded a try of his own, taking the ball to the line and beating Seagulls’ defenders who were slow to get off their try line.
Wynnum Manly half Matthew Seamark hit a penalty on halftime to close in at 14-8.
The second half was intense and there was a September atmosphere to the play as arguably two of the best forward packs in the competition battled away in the middle of the park.
Utility John Te Reo spurred on his Seagulls’ teammates with a stutter step and fend combination, breaking the line on the half way line and finding a steaming Ogden for the finish.
Ryan Ghietti would slot a composed field goal to give the Pride a narrow 15-14 lead with seven minutes remaining.
Mitchell Frei thought he had won the match for home side when an enormous Templeman bomb was allowed to bounce by Murgha, giving the big backrower an opportunity to seize the ball in the air and slam it down.
However Obst would have the final say in the match, bringing a five-game win streak for the Seagulls to an end.
NORTHERN PRIDE 21 (Luke George, Bradley Stephen, Sam Obst, Tom Hancock tries; Hezron Murgha 2 goals; Ryan Ghietti field goal) def WYNNUM MANLY SEAGULLS 20 (Daniel Ogden, Greg Eden, Mitchell Frei tries; Matthew Seamark 4 goals) at BMD Kougari Oval.
Final teams
Wynnum Manly Seagulls: 1. Daniel Ogden 2. Peter Gubb 3. Matthew Grieve 4. Mitchell Buckett 5. Greg Eden 6. Patrick Templeman 7. Matthew Seamark 8. Ben Shea 9. Alehana Mara 10. Tim Natusch (c) 11. Aaron Rockley 12. Brendon Gibb 13. Mitchell Frei 14. John Te Reo 15. Jon Grieve 16. Tanu Wulf 19. Olsi Krasniqi
Northern Pride: 1. Hezron Murgha 2. Linc Port 3. Brett Anderson 4. Luke George 6. Ryan Ghietti 7. Sam Obst 8. Jack Svendsen 9. Jason Roos (c) 10. David Murphy 11. Vaipuna Tia Kilifi 12. Graham Clark 13. Tom Hancock 14. Denzel King 15. Regan Verney 16. Sheldon Powe Hobbs 20. Patrick Kaufusi19. Bradley Stephen
