PASS DRAMA HELPS BRONCOS HOME
A POSSIBLE forward pass on the siren missed by the referees has spelt the end of the Cowboys season as the Broncos left 1300SMILES Stadium with victory in the Queensland derby.
Brisbane’s makeshift halfback Jake Turpin dived across the line in the final minute to steal a 18-14 victory from the home side but it was a forward pass in the lead up play that caught the ire of the 17,530 fans.
The referees were booed off the field after the conclusion of the clash, one of the worst Queensland derbies of the past decade.
In a showing of their respective places on the ladder, both sides struggled to gain an upper hand throughout the game with poor handling and bad reads in defence costing both sides.
There were 26 errors across the 80 minutes shared evenly between the two sides while the Cowboys finished the night with 31 missed tackles to the Broncos five.
North Queensland struggled to contain the Broncos second phase efforts in the first half with the offloads of Tevita Pangai causing headaches for the edge defenders.
After the sides were locked at 6-6 at the break, it would take a piece of individual brilliance from Jake Clifford to flick the switch on the dour derby midway through the second half. Yet his try led to a Broncos reply.
Broncos’ hard man David Fifita would not need a second invitation, bulldozing his way over Josh McGuire, before carrying two defenders to the tryline.
A penalty goal in front gave the Cowboys the lead late in the clash before Turpin’s try sealed the thrilling win for the visitors.