Early end called to spiteful semi final contest

INNISFAIL are just one win away from a grand final appearance after beating Yarrabah 28-14 under lights at Barlow Park in a controversial CDRL finals encounter.

The game was called off by the referee with 23 minutes remaining on the clock, with a fear that teams would not be able to contain their frustratATHERTON ions, which were starting to boil over.

A fiery clash from the getgo, the teams were playing 12on-12 early on after the Seahawks’ Hezron Murgha and the Leprechauns’ Jaymon Moore were sin-binned following a bit of push and shove.

It was the theme of the night, as another three Seahawks and two Leprechauns would spend time in the sinbin later in the match, while Yarrabah’s Steven Singleton was sent off in the 39th minute.

The Leprechauns were the first team to start playing football and skipped out to a 16-0 lead through tries to Luke Horsford, Robert Haren and Taulata Fakalelu.

The game stopped momentarily midway through the first half when the referee refused to restart play until a security guard was positioned on the far side of the field, where spectators were said to be hurling abuse at the touch judge.

When play did get back under way, it was Yarrabah who had all the momentum, scoring two tries before the break to narrow the deficit to 16-10.

Yarrabah were first to score in the second half through young winger Jayden Kynuna, but Innisfail hit back with their centres, Elia Mooka and Den Waireg-Ingui, scoring a try each. Mooka’s was an eightpoint try, due to a late challenge from a Yarrabah player after the try was scored.

The tough contest raged on, until the referee had seen enough, and called an early end in the 57th minute.

Innisfail went home with the win, and will face Mossman-Port Douglas next weekend, with the winner booking their spot in the CDRL grand final for 2019.