Mustangs Brothers held off a brave Samford Stags to sneak home 14-10 and progress to a preliminary final in the Open 1 men’s Rugby League Brisbane competition on Saturday.
Having been down 6-0 at halftime, Mustangs clawed their way back into the game at Jim Lawrie Oval Brighton, which will now see them face off against Burpengary Jets for a place in this year’s grand final against West Arana Hills Panthers.
With a massive crowd cheering on both clubs, the game was played at a frantic pace with both sides putting on what was one of the games of the season.
It was Samford who got the ball rolling in the game in the 16th minute through winger Ethan Chapple.
In what was an outstanding season for the speedster, his in an away turned the Mustangs defence inside and out and he was able to cross inches from the sideline to put the Stags on the board.
With points of paramount importance in semi-finals, Samford added another two points to their tally having been gifted a penalty right in front of sticks on the stroke of halftime.
Stags five-eighth Cooper Hickey, made no mistake with the easy conversion, slotting the ball over the black dot to see Samford go into the sheds with a 6-0 lead.
If the crowd thought the first half was played at a million miles an hour, then they certainly had to buckle up in what was a blockbuster second half.
In a momentum shifter, Mustangs were gifted a penalty right on halfway with Samford miscalculating the strong breeze behind them, which had the ball sailing into touch on the full.
From the next set, the Mustangs were able to execute a perfect set play that saw the powerful Kalos Tuuga-Stevenson, smash his way through four Stags defenders to plant the ball over the line.
At 6-6, it was now a case of who would make the first mistake to get the upper hand.
Samford accepted another gift two points in the 55th minute with another penalty in front, that saw Hickey knock over another easy conversion and see the Stags hit the lead 8-6.
But in a case of anything you can do, we can do better, it was Mustangs who were then given a chance to level up the scores with a penalty for holding down.
Against the wind, Mustangs Devin Tuiasau-Kerridge nailed the penalty conversion to see both sides back level pegging.
Then, in the 65th minute, Samford were given another penalty in front of the sticks with Mustangs caught offside.
Hickey, again with no pressure, landed the conversion in front to see the Stags back in front 10-8.
But Mustangs still had enough petrol in the tank and their hero winger Alfredo Walton scooped up a Stags loose carry, the speedster racing away to score under the sticks.
With 60 seconds left on the clock, a pulsating final period took place with Samford having six tackles to cross for the equalizer, but it was to no avail.
Mustangs held on in what was an absolute thrilling game of rugby league.
