Vultures recover from slow start, test Rhinos
GRIDIRON: Determined for a strong second round of the season, the Valleys Vultures showed plenty of fight against the undefeated Brisbane Rhinos.
While Toowoomba went down 33-6, it was a noticeable improvement on their meeting back in round three.
On that occasion the Vultures suffered a 66-0 loss at home, and coach Andrew Seddon said it was a good recovery from his team after a slow start.
“The rhinos got away early on us in the first quarter. We only had 18 players and were down 27-0 after the first,” Seddon said.
“We changed a few things on defence. Our biggest flaw has been our pass coverage. We can stop the run pretty easily but that little tweak in the formation really helped.”
After conceding early in the second quarter, the Vultures managed to hold the ladder leaders out for the rest of the game, and picked up a touchdown of their own approaching half-time.
The Rhinos elected for a fake punt on fourth down, however they came unstuck when Tom Hodgkinson picked off the pass and ran it into the endzone.
“I said to them how proud I was after the game. Our six points from the defence,” he said.
“Tom was our game day MVP. He was all over the field from sideline to sideline.”
Both teams failed to trouble the scorers in the second half, a testament to the Vultures defence that held the league’s top-scoring team to their lowest score of the season.
Toowoomba plays their last road game at Deception Bay this Saturday, taking on the Raptors.
During their round five encounter the Vultures picked up their solitary victory of the season with an 18-16 triumph.
Seddon said the team would be boosted by the return of two offensive linesmen and running back Jake Hart.