Despite a late surge by Cairns Brothers, Innisfail proved too strong and ran out 26-18 winners at Stan Williams Park on Sunday to finish with triple success in all three grades.
They also brought home the Cairns Hardware Challenge David Morris Memorial Shield.
The shield is played annually between both clubs and has been running for eight years in memory of David Morris, who worked as a salesman at Cairns Hardware in Innisfail and was involved with the Innisfail club for many years.
Aggregate points after the teams met in Round 9 last month had Cairns Brothers in front with 78 points with Innisfail on 65 points, so all three games were hotly contested.
A clean sweep in all three grades saw Innisfail finish with 142 points ahead of Cairns on 127 points and claim the coveted Shield.
After the A Grade game, the best and fairest players were presented to Tom Spark for Cairns and Lachlan Biondi-Odo for Innisfail as decided by the fans watching on the hill.
The wins to Yarrabah and Innisfail saw Cairns Brothers slip from second to fourth on the ladder, just behind Yarrabah in second and Innisfail in third.
Isaiah Wigness registered first points for Cairns Brothers and a second try to Patrick Lewis put the Brethren out to a eight point lead.
Innisfail struck back soon after with a try each to Tamati Huirama, Fred Koraba and George Toby and when Lachlan Biondi-Odo knocked over two of the three conversions, they took a 16-8 lead at halftime.
In the second half, Innisfail continued in the same fashion with a try to Ronald Ambrum and Luke Horsford further extended their lead by 18.
Despite a late surge by Cairns with a try to Peter Tuccandidgee and Theo Majid, the Brethren finished with an eight-point deficit at the fulltime siren.
Cairns Brothers coach Paul Stevens said going into the game there were a number of key players missing from their side including Teddy Kepa, Quinlyn Cannon,Terrence Casey-Douglas and Gabriel Tognolini.
"The boys showed a lot of character, gritty determination and really stepped up," Stevens said.
"It was pleasing when the Innisfail coach made mention of the number of skilled young players in our side."
The youngest players found the going tough late in the first half however, but were able to bounce back in the second and gave it back to the opposition.
The Brethren had a horror day with Evan Child, Corey Child and Joe Eichner going off with injuries, which left only one player left on their bench.
"It's encouraging that in last week's comeback win against Yarrabah and this week's narrow loss against Innisfail, we were under strength with a lot of players out of the side," Stevens said.
Stevens said all season the side had been challenged with injuries, which had stopped them from putting the best side possible on the park.
The coach however felt all of his younger players such as Cameron Graham, Tom Spark and Dontoray Lui were outstanding.
This weekend, Cairns Brothers travel up the hill to face Mareeba, and the coach feels they will tough to beat at their home ground and in cold weather conditions.
Innisfail coach Leon Hallie said it was good to get the away win against Cairns as "it's always a tough contest".
Solid defence is what won it for Innisfail and Cairns weren't able to repel them.
Hallie said he was happy with the way his side controlled the middle of the paddock which saw the back line scoring off that, but conceded that for most of the game, they didn't allow the younger players too much freedom until they clawed their way back late in the second half.
Hallie said this year's competition was even - and while Tully haven't won a game this season, their margin of loss has only been by four to six points.
"It's just a matter of who gets it right on the day, has depth on the park as all sides are getting injuries so we rely on boys in the lower ranks to step up and get the job done," Hallie said.
Innisfail will now travel away to face Ivanhoes which will be another tough match up.
Round 14 Results
A Grade
Mossman-Port Douglas 24 defeated Atherton 20
Edmonton 32 defeated Tully 24
Innisfail 26 defeated Cairns Brothers 18
Yarrabah 44 defeated Ivanhoes 40
Southern Suburbs 34 defeated Kangaroos 8
Bye: Mareeba
Ladder: Mossman-Port Douglas 20, Yarrabah 18, Innisfail 17, Cairns Brothers 16, Atherton 14, Kangaroos 13, Ivanhoes 13, Southern Suburbs 12, Mareeba 8, Edmonton 8, Tully 1
Reserve Grade
Mossman-Port Douglas 40 defeated Atherton 16
Edmonton 44 defeated Tully 22
Innisfail 24 defeated Cairns Brothers 18
Yarrabah 52 defeated Ivanhoes 14
Southern Suburbs 30 defeated Kangaroos 16
Under 18
Atherton won on forfeit by Mossman-Port Douglas
Edmonton won on forfeit by Tully
Innisfail 30 defeated Cairns Brothers 22
Ivanhoes 30 defeated Yarrabah 22
Southern Suburbs 54 defeated Kangaroos 18
Round 15 A Grade Fixtures
Saturday, July 20
Mareeba v Cairns Brothers at Davies Park, Mareeba
Atherton v Kangaroos at Mungalli Creek Dairy Stadium, Atherton
Southern Suburbs v Edmonton at Alley Park, Gordonvale
Tully v Yarrabah at Tully Showgrounds
Sunday, July 21
Ivanhoes v Innisfail at Smithfield Sports Complex
Bye: Mossman-Port Douglas
Main image: Innisfail had a clean sweep in three grades against Cairns Brothers to take home the Cairns Hardware Challenge David Morris Memorial Shield at Stan Williams Park on Sunday Photo: Maria Girgenti
