Falcons star Ryley Jacks waited until the 61st minute to seize the moment for his team after threatening all game to go through the line.
While the Ipswich Jets had spoken about his show-and-go all week, and again at halftime, Jacks showed his class to still be able to pull off the move to score. His play sparked the Falcons into action and they scored a further three tries to seal a 36-16 win.
Before his play, the Jets and Falcons had been trading punches, going try-for-try in an even contest.
The point-scoring started in the 4th minute of the game when Storm forward Joe Stimson crossed to give the home side the start they wanted.
However, from the next set, Ipswich returned the favour when forward Nat Neale charged his way over under the posts.
The Jets set about doing plenty of hard work and seemed to be spending a large amount of time rucking it out of their own end, while the Falcons had several chances denied by forward passes and going into touch.
At halftime, the score was 6-6 and coach Ben Walker encouraged his side to relax – but to be wary of the Jacks show-and-go.
The second half started like the first with a burst of scoring.
Jets centre Nemani Valekapa got it started with his 44th try for the Jets, which gave his side back the lead 10-6 before people had found their seats.
Falcons winger Matthew Soper-Lawler was next over the line when he acrobatically placed the ball inside the corner post and the lead changed again back to the Sunshine Coast 12-10.
Earlier in the match, Michael Purcell had gone close to scoring for Ipswich when he chased a kick that beat him over the dead ball line; but this time he made it with plenty of time to spare and had his 13th try for the Jets this season and put the Jets up 16-12 with 28 minutes to go.
The game changed however when Jacks drifted across the field, shaping to throw a huge pass. The Jets chased – but the ball stayed in his hands as he divided the line in two and scored.
That moment gave the Falcons back the lead and was the catalyst for the Falcons take the victory.
Soper-Lawyer accepted an intercept and ran the 40m to score his second of the day, before Jahrome Hughes did some stepping of his own and scored under the posts.
At 30-16 with less than 10 minutes to go, things looked grim for the Jets.
Alexander Copelin then put the result beyond reach and took the win for the Falcons.
After the game, Walker conceded that while his side had prepared well, they still couldn’t prevent the inevitable.
“They show and go better than us, that’s for sure,” he said.
The Jets will now start to prepare for the Norths Devils next week, while the Falcons will be take on the Pride.
See the full scoring details and final team line-ups for this game via QRL Live
SUNSHINE COAST FALCONS 36 (Matthew Soper-Lawler 2, Joe Stimson, Ryley Jacks, Jahrome Hughes, Alexander Copelin tries; Guy Hamilton 3, Scott Drinkwater 2, Donald Malone goals) def IPSWICH JETS 16 (Nat Neale, Nemani Valekapa, Michael Purcell tries; Wes Conlon 2 goals) at Sunshine Coast Stadium.
