Eagles pipped by Runaway winners
RUNAWAY Bay have soared to within 80 minutes of the Rugby League Gold Coast premiership after edging Currumbin 10-6 in a thriller at Galleon Way.
A second-half try to Bay’s Henry Chan-Ting out of dummy-half was all that separated the sides, who both defended their line as if their lives depended on it.
Currumbin had a chance after the buzzer to steal victory following a scuffle that saw Kimihia Pakipaki-Hemopo (Bay) and Hayden Allsop (Eagles) sent to the sin bin but they were unable to latch onto a last-gasp high kick.
Bay are now in the box seat to go one better than their 2017 runners-up finish, having won 11 of their past 12 games.
Bay forward Tane Rapira said a week off would help.
“There were a lot of errors, we kind of put ourselves under pressure but we got there in the end,” said the former Manly under-20 player, who hurt his ankle.
“We have got a lot of niggling injuries so it definitely helps getting that week off.”
Minor premiers Currumbin are not done yet though; they have a chance to bounce back next weekend in a home preliminary final against Tweed Heads.
The Eagles lost their way at the back end of the match as they desperately chased points, with coach Ryan Gundry conceding they had been their own worst enemy.
“I think the ball just needs to go to the right people and the right people need to demand the ball,” he said.
“That’s a lesson learnt. You have got to bring your best footy on the day and we didn’t bring ours, which is unfortunate, but the best thing is we have got next week.
“We have just got to be positive and go back to training Tuesday and train hard and prepare for another tough game.”
Tre Williams scored four tries to help Tweed to a 40-26 home win on Saturday to end Tugun’s fairytale run.
“It was a wonderful effort by the boys,” said Seagulls coach Kevin Campion.