Falcons come-from-behind to down Magpies

In an evenly matched game that went down to the wire, Sunshine Coast Falcons were able to fightback and snatch a 32-26 win against Souths Logan Magpies in the last match of Round 2.

Shifted to Bishop Park due to the weather playing havoc at Souths Logan home ground of Davies Park, a swift start from the Falcons saw Luke Polselli score in the first 13 minutes of the game with a successful conversion from Todd Murphy to follow.

The visitors then extended their lead with a penalty goal which brought the score to 0-8.

The Magpies hit back with an impressive try from Karmichael Hunt which was followed by a successful conversion from Kevin Locke.

Teams went try-for-try, with Jack Wright scoring in his Intrust Super Cup debut in the with less than 10 minutes to go to halftime.

However, that was answered by a Jack Goodsell soon after to give the Falcons a 14-10 lead at the break.

The Magpies came out firing after half-time, with Raiden Fonoti scoring in the opening minutes of the second half. His side were able to accumulate more possession and force errors in the second half and converted this advantage with Locke successfully slotting two penalty goals.

When Justin Fai crossed for a try in the 60th minute, it put the Magpies in front 26-14.

The Falcons fought back with ferocity scored three tries in eight minutes with both Polselli (also on debut) and Wright scoring for a second time.

They wrapped up the game with a remarkable try from Bj Aufaga-Toomaga in the final four minutes.

Falcons coach Sam Mawhinney said the team had the mindset going in that it would be a “pretty tough game” and they had a goal of taking on the Magpies through the middle.

“We knew that Souths were going to be tough. We wanted to try to take them on through the middle which we did from the start which I thought we did pretty well and got some rewards off the back of that when Polselli scored,” Mawhinney said.

“I think the halftime score was an indication of where the game was at, we were just that little bit in front.”

Mawhinney said his side’s strong start to half set the foundations for their immense comeback in the second half.

“We started the second half really flat but on that same token Souths came out of the blocks and got a few six-agains and they were able to get a few tries off the back of that,” Mawhinney said.

“This put us in a bit of a tough spot … (and) we just needed to find a bit of energy.”

He was also proud of the efforts of his inexperienced side.

“Luke Polselli our fullback, his effort all game was really good he’s just a real energy player and in everything he did his effort was really high,” Mawhinney said.

“To go out with 17 falcons who are all a part of our Sunshine Coast-based squad and come back to get the win was something I’m really proud of.”

Next week, teams will have the Easter weekend off, with the Sunshine Coast Falcons returning in Round 3 to face Ipswich Jets.

Souths Logan will regroup and face Tweed Seagulls.