Seagull playoff looms
TWEED have all but ended Ipswich’s Intrust Super Cup finals hopes with a 22-18 win that lifted the Seagulls to sixth.
The Seagulls had lost six of their previous seven games going into the Round 20 clash at North Ipswich Reserve yesterday but steadied the ship in John Palavi’s 50th Cup game.
They now hold a six-point buffer over Ipswich with three games left, meaning just one more win will completely eliminate the Jets’ hopes of finals.
“We identified it as a really important game and it gives us that little bit of safety around playing finals footy,” Seagulls coach Ben Woolf said.
“It was very tight. We had all the possession early and they had it all at the end. They had a lot of ball, a lot of repeat sets so to keep them from scoring in the last 20 minutes was a really good effort.”
The lead changed five times and the margin never went beyond six points but Tweed got the job done. Centre Lee Turner put the Seagulls in front early, crossing on the left edge in the 10th minute.
Marmin Barba responded minutes later as the Jets drew level and he had a double within the first 21 minutes.
Barba’s second came on the back of some creative play by Jets centre Nemani Valekapa who drew three defenders before finding Barba on the inside with a flick pass to send him over.
The scoring continued in the 29th minute when Turner latched on to a ball in the corner following an Ash Taylor grubber before wrong-footing multiple defenders to score.
Turner’s second came after a solid run from Tweed who started the set inside their
defensive 20m. Jack Cook took advantage of a similar set soon after, putting the side in front in the 38th minute as the Seagulls led 16-12 at half-time.
Ipswich five-eighth Josh Cleeland ensured the lead changed hands again five minutes into the second before Ioane Seiuli crashed over from close range in the 54th minute to put Tweed in front 22-18.
■ BURLEIGH have moved into third on the ladder following a 24-6 win over PNG Hunters at Oil Search National Football Stadium.
Jamal Fogarty opened Burleigh’s account in the 17th minute and Josh Berkers followed just before half-time before a Troy Leo double in the second half cemented the win.
Garry Lo was the sole member of Papua New Guinea’s team to cross, breathing life into the lowly team in the 52nd minute.
Fogarty converted two of the team’s tries and slotted two penalty goals to give Burleigh the buffer they needed.
Tweed will return home to Piggabeen Sports Complex on Sunday to play Easts while Burleigh will host the Northern Pride on Saturday.