Cleeland celebrates 200 points with taming of Tigers

Both teams banked another deposit in the rich history between the two clubs as they eased in to the game trading sets until a high tackle left Zac Hetherington dazed and taken off the field.

The Jets took the two points on offer with Josh Cleeland adding the extras in his bid to close in on 200-career Intrust Super Cup points.

The Tigers came back with a quick reply - Kyle Coghill rolling it into the in-goal on the left and Kea Pere grounding it for the home side to score his first try of the season.

Brayden Torpy kicked the extra points and the Tigers took the lead 6-2 after 30 minutes.

Jets captain Nat Neale was back for the Jets and took the ball to the right, sucking in defenders and offloading before the Jets went as far left as possible and Ratu Jope Rotavisoro scored his fifth try in game number nine for the Jets.

At half-time, the game had become a grinding contest with both teams missing chances, but both coaches were happy with what they saw.

Keiron Lander spoke about waiting for chances and being there when they presented while Tigers coach Jon Buchanan spoke about defence and was happy with the Tigers' efforts to keep the Jets to only one try.

But it only took four minutes for one coach to be happy and another disappointed.

One of those chances that coach Lander was talking about presented itself early in the second half when the Jets went to their right and Jordan Carriera went through to score his fourth Intrust Super Cup try.

Cleeland added the two points and the Jets had the lead 12-6.

The Tigers came back at the Jets; Bennett Leslie making an incisive run that dug into the visitors' defence and on the back of earning a penalty, Darren Nicholls took the quick tap  and dummied his way over beside the posts. That locked up the game again 12-12.

The first half didn’t produce too much attack but the second half was alive and kicking and it was Coghill doing the kicking.

The Tigers went deep into Jets territory on the back of a Brayden Torpy run and reaped the rewards of a further six points to lead 18-12 after 14 minutes in the second half.

Ipswich repelled the Tigers attack but were forced in-goal and after conceding a penalty for the dropout not going ten metres, the Tigers took the two points to consolidate their lead and extend it by another two points.

The Jets struck back again with 15 minutes to go through Josh Cleeland and Ben White.

Cleeland showed some dazzling footwork and offloaded down the right hand side before popping the pass inside for a flying Ben White to cross under the posts.

The Tigers were forced to get through 10 minutes of the last 13 with 12 men after Kyle Coghill went to the sin bin.

The flying mullet of Blake Lenehan took advantage of the man down and charged his way over for the Jets.

Cleeland lined up the kick to bring up his 200th point with 10 minutes to play - the five-eighth converting his 66th goal to go with his one field goal and 17 tries in the Intrust Super Cup.

The Jets attacked right again and found the overlap for Ben White to score his second try and give the vistiors an imposing lead with three minutes to go.

Cleeland added another two points and the Jets finished the game with 32-20 on the scoreboard at full-time.

Milestone man Cleeland said it was their second half that got them home.

“We had chances in the first half but just couldn’t find points somehow, then in the second half, we clicked,” Cleeland said post-match.

“Having Nat Neale and Jayden Connors back was great. They’re leaders and we need them out there.

“We got the points on the field and kept persisting and points came.”

Lander will return to his hometown of Quilpie with the Jets to face Redcliffe in Round 14.

The Tigers travel to Gladstone and meet the Capras.