Try scoring was the order of the day as the Souths Logan Magpies outgunned the Mackay Cutters in a high-energy 42-30 win.
Young fullback Corey Allan stole the show early, producing a remarkable hat-trick after just 17 minutes.
Astonishingly though – they were not the opening tries of the match – with the visiting Cutters crossing two before that to race to an early lead.
The first came from fullback Lachlan Coote (who was a late omission from the NQ Cowboys) in just the second minute of play, while Mackay’s regular fullback this year Yamba Bowie was over just four minutes later.
After the Allan blitz; Broncos-contracted forward and Magpies junior George Fai barged his way over to extend the lead for the home side, before the Cutters hit back quickly with two more tries of their own, with skipper Tom Murphy and winger Kurt Wiltshire both over.
At halftime the scores were 24-20 to the Magpies with Guy Hamilton slotting a penalty goal in the 40th minute in his 50th Cup game with the club.
There had been an astounding eight tries scores in the first half, with both sides over for four each.
Things slowed down in the second half – but only just – with the free-scoring contest continuing.
However, the home side were able to run in three second-half tries to two – with Hamilton’s boot also striking six of his seven try conversion attempts.
However, his goal-kicking counterpart Nicho Hynes was unable to match that level of accuracy, kicking three from six to prevent a higher scoreline.
Outside of the number of tries, the game was also notable for a number of inclusions to the teams, as alongside Coote; the Cutters also welcomed back Cooper Bambling into their outfit. The young half returned from a stint with the Canberra Raiders recently.
The Magpies too had a notable inclusion, with their Mal Meninga Cup winning captain David Fifita (pictured above with Cup skipper Phil Dennis) making his Intrust Super Cup debut.
See the full scoring details and final team line-ups for this game at QRL Live
SOUTHS LOGAN MAGPIES 42 (Corey Allan 3, George Fai, Daniel Tamou, Sam Lavea, Marion Seve tries; Guy Hamilton 7 goals) def MACKAY CUTTERS 30 (Lachlan Coote, Yamba Bowie, Thomas Murphy, Kurt Wiltshire, Nicho Hynes, Johnny Faletagoa’i tries; Nicho Hynes 3 goals) at Davies Park.
