SPORT Goodfellow fires as Bears head into final
LITCHFIELD qualified for its first grand final in 10 years at Rugby Park last night by beating the previously undefeated Palmerston Raiders 22- 16.
Throughout the regular season, the Bears were the only team to truly test Palmerston, and having demolished Nightcliff last weekend, they began confidently.
The rural club crossed first when Matt Goodfellow delivered a pinpoint cross field bomb to winger Tyrone Jennings, who jumped above a pack to score. And from that point, Litchfield’s belief grew and Palmerston could never gain the ascendancy, despite levelling the scores at 12-all just before the break.
Goodfellow was the catalyst behind the Bears’ success. The reigning Frank Johnson Medallist scored a dashing try 25 minutes in, slicing through Palmerston’s defence.
But it was his kicking game, both in general play and off the tee, which was most impressive. The halfback’s torpedo bomb caused havoc for the Raiders’ back three, while his long punt continually found grass.
Having gone into halftime even, Litchfield resumed control four minutes into the second stanza, but not before Palmerston shot itself in the foot. When a barnstorming Adam Hall found Alex Johnson with room to move close to the stripe, the winger reached out, but was ruled to have knocked the ball on.
It proved the turning point, as the Bears went up the other end and immediately touched down, after David Jacobson broke free on the left edge and linked up with Trent Wedding.
A Goodfellow penalty goal on 53 minutes extended Litchfield’s lead to eight, and although Palmerston crossed again through Johnson out wide, the Bears never looked like handing back their lead.