The Townsville Blackhawks held the Ipswich Jets scoreless in the second half to fight back and record a win in Round 18 at Jack Manski Oval.
Ipswich came into the match having won three of their past four games against the Blackhawks and it looked like they would continue that run early on in the game; with the Jets heading into the sheds with a healthy 14-4 lead at the break.
Both sides had gotten their first points of the game via penalty goals with Marmin Barba and Zach Clay both booting two apiece; with Barba also dotting down for a try in the 20th minute.
While they were not able to cross for a try in the first half, the home side wasted no time in the second; with Levi Dodd going over in the first minute of the second-half; with the side taking advantage of the one-man advantage after Jets forward Huskie Teutau was sinbinned in the closing minute of the first half.
Jaelen Feeney then crossed in the 50th minute to draw things level before Clay’s conversion had the home side in front for the first time.
Clay put the result beyond doubt in the closing minutes of the game with the 77th minute try and resulting conversion seeing him bag a total of 14 points for the game and a valuable two competition points for his team in a congested top of the Intrust Super Cup table.
The game also served as a successful return for forward leaders at the Blackhawks Daniel Beasley and Andrew Davey.
Blackhawks coach Kristian Woolf was pleased with hsi side's second-half grit, and believes it will give them a confidence boost as the finals draw closer.
"I think it does give us a lot of confidence, they're a very dangerous side, a very good side, they've got a lot of class in them, particularly with their attack," Woolf said.
"Defensively we were outstanding, we gave them no opportunity at all and you know we probably could have given ourselves a bit more opportunity with the ball if we didn't come up with a couple of errors at crucial times."
"To grind out a win like that... and get over the top of them as well as we did in the second half should give us some confidence going forward."
The win leaves the Blackhawks in second place on the ladder to the Dolphins due to points differential, but having top spot at the end of the regular season isn't Woolf's goal.
"I don't look at the ladder. If we win every week... then you know you're going to play at the end of the year, it's about making sure that we're playing finals, and making sure that we've got some form coming into finals as well," he said.
"Once you get into finals it's a whole new ball game obviously but you need to have some form leading into that so you can make the most of your opportunity as well, so that's our focus."
See the full scoring details and final team line ups at QRL Live
TOWNSVILLE BLACKHAWKS 22 (Levi Dodd, Jaelen Feeney, Zach Clay tries; Zach Clay 5 goals) def IPSWICH JETS 14 (Marmin Barba, Jayden Connors tries; Marmin Barba 3 goals) at Jack Manski Oval.
