Round 11's game between Souths Logan Magpies and Mackay Cutters began with a heartfelt tribute to one of Souths Logan’s most loyal and incredible supporters – Eddie Allouche.
The teams ran out to the Souths Logan song and a one-minute silence was conducted in his honour.
Davies Park has been known as the Allouche family’s second home with often three generations seen around the grounds. The Magpies were tasked with securing a win at home to do Eddie and the Allouche family proud.
Magpies coach Steven Bretherton had spoken about the contribution Eddie had made to the club with the team throughout the week.
“We educated the boys around who Eddie was and what that meant for us as a football club, so when they needed to, they were able to draw on that as a group and make sure that we were doing him proud,” Bretherton said.
The Magpies also faced the task of once again proving themselves after their brilliant win against Wynnum Manly in the Mitch Cronin Memorial Cup.
Bretherton reinforced that “the win last week didn’t mean anything" if it couldn’t be followed up with a winning performance against the Cutters and warned that the team was in a good position; but to lose against the Cutters would waste the momentum they had built from the Wynnum Manly triumph.
The opening plays of the game required a massive defensive effort from both sides, with the Cutters five-eighth Brandon Finnegan drawing first blood in the eighth minute.
After engaging in a tough battle of defence for the first 20 minutes of the game, the Magpies reaped the rewards of their hard work with Brad Frith scoring the first try for the home side.
The Magpies’ dominance was felt in the concluding minutes of the first half as Creedence Toia and Justin Fai (with two successful conversions from Jamayne Isaako) brought the score to 16-6 to the home side at half-time.
With the score margin so close, the Magpies’ main aim was to “get the opposition under fatigue” to achieve their results.
Jacob Alick barged over the try line in just the second minute of play after the resumption, combined with an Isaako conversion, the scores were brought to 22-6.
Cutters utility Jack Quinn began increasing the pressure on the home side and threatened a Cutters comeback after scoring and converting his own try.
The teams played back-and-forth going try for try as Fai scored his second try of the match in the 50th minute which was closely followed by Cutters winger Jake Riley, who just kept Mackay within reach of a win.
However, the Magpies lead was just too big with back-to-back tries from Brisbane Broncos affiliates Isaako and Corey Oates sealing the fate of the game.
Mackay got in the last word though with a try from Matiu Stone-Dunn in the 78th minute, but it did not ultimately deliver the Cutters the win.
The Magpies wanted to make the day a special one for the Allouche family and its safe to say that they definitely achieved that.
Bretherton was extremely happy with the efforts of his team.
“There was not a bad player on the field, and everyone played their role which is something we pride ourselves on,” Bretherton said.
