Sunshine Coast Falcons hosted the Ipswich Jets in a windy afternoon for Round 6 of the Hostplus Cup and secured themselves a strong win.
The Falcons continued their winning streak at home with a 48-18 scoreline which moved them on the top of the competition ladder.
However, the first try came after a penalty was awarded to the Jets in the first set of the match and they capitalised through a cross-field grubber from Lachlan Cooper, which bounced over the heads of the Falcons to land in the hands of Dominic Macumboy, giving them a early 4-0 lead.
Match: Falcons v Jets
Round 6 -
home Team
Falcons
1st Position
away Team
Jets
14th Position
Venue: Sunshine Coast Stadium, Sunshine Coast
However, it wasn't long before the Falcons hit back.
After a forced error, the Sunshine Coast had a mid-field scrum and the flying Falcons fullback Luke Polselli pierced the line to run away and put the Falcons into a 6-4 lead.
Ipswich invited the Falcons right back after the kick-off went out on the full. The Falcons wasted no time adding to there tally as a cut-out ball from Polselli saw Will Warbrick over the chalk untouched. The conversion was missed from the sideline and the score remained 10-4.
The right-hand attack from the Falcons were untouchable. A through-the-hands play saw another try to Warbrick as he fended off three defenders to have a double and put the Falcons up 14-4.
After a fast-paced start to the game, the tempo started to settle. Both teams were going back-and-forth with a strong game being played through the middle third.
The Falcons were playing to their strengths going to the right side again as their fourth try would be Warbrick's hat-trick try. Cooper Johns set up the play to see the Falcons go up 18-4 as the wind made it near impossible to convert from the sideline.
The Jets started to press towards the end of the half having a try disallowed because of a forward pass. But the Falcons wouldn’t go away after a Daniel Atkinson bomb was dropped from the Jets and Polselli picked up the loose ball to score his double, seeing the Falcons go into the halftime break 24-4.
The start of the second half was identical to the first as the Jets were able to retrieve the kick off using the wind and scoring within minutes through a tough run by second rower Tyler Coburn. The Jets were closing the deficit with a score of 24-8.
The ball kept rolling for the Jets as they scored again minutes after. The score becoming 24-14 after a perfectly lined run from Denzel Burns saw him score under the posts.
The pressure was gone quickly from the Falcons though as Johns had the ball on a string, kicking a grubber kick for Polselli right under the post for his hat-trick try and a further the lead to 30-14.
It wouldn’t take long for another try as the Falcons went over for their seventh try of the afternoon as Campbell Duffy bounced off two defenders to add to the score and make it 36-14.
The Falcons were starting to pull away as another set play off a mid-field scrum led to a try down the right again and a 42-14 scoreline.
Little defence was being played towards the end of the game as the Jets hit right back and scored after a some swift ball playing saw Coburn score his second of the day.
The next set for the Falcons turned into more points scoring through their dominant right-hand side as Jack Gibbons went over for Falcons with the score finishing up with scores at 48-18.
This match was the last in Round 6, with the teams not playing this weekend all taking to the field for Round 7 next weekend.
