MUSTANGS CLAIM PRIDE HONOURS
Chappell heroics seal win
RUGBY LEAGUE: A converted try in the dying stages of yesterday’s fixture at Gold Park helped the Western Mustangs secure a 31-28 defeat of the Northern Pride.
Trailing by four, the Mustangs set up camp deep in Pride territory for the final 10 minutes of the game, after being down by as much as 10.
With the Pride working it off their goal-line, a devastating hit from Riley Wilson jolted the ball loose, giving the Mustangs a scrum feed with just three minutes left.
A swift backline movement came up trumps, as Patrick McGinn crossed in the corner to level proceedings, leaving Josh Chappell with a kick to win the game.
Having slotted his first four conversion attempts, the halfback made no mistake when it counted, raising the touch judges flags and getting the Mustangs on the board in 2019.
“I’ve been doing it for a long time. It’s something that I’ve been practising, and I’m just lucky enough it went over,” Chappell said.
“It’s what you dream of doing.”
The Gold Park surface played havoc throughout the game with wet conditions sweeping through Toowoomba across the weekend.
After leading 12-6 after 15 minutes of play, handling errors started to creep into the Mustangs game.
“It was muddy. We’ll put our errors down to the conditions, but we couldn’t hang on to the footy at times, and were lucky to escape with a win,” he said.
“We played a trial against Wynnum where we were down 22-0 and were eventually winning that game.
“It’s something we love doing. It’s not ideal, but we get the job done.
“Hopefully the win gets a bit of momentum into us and leads us into next week.”
In the Hastings Deering Colts, the Mustangs were unable to stop a rampant Pride in the second half, going down 54-8 at 1300 Smiles Stadium in Townsville.
After Austin Jennings opened the scoring in the eighth minute, the Pride piled on three unanswered tries, before Jamal Woodbridge kept the Mustangs in the contest as they went into half-time trailing 18-8.
They were unable to contain the onslaught in the second half however, as they dropped their second game of the season.
Both teams will be at home on Sunday when the Mustangs host the Sunshine Coast Falcons at Gold Park.