Blackhawks on song

THE premiership credentials of the Townsville Blackhawks have soared to new levels following their clinical 46- 12 defeat of the Burleigh Bears on Saturday.

Two tries from rising winger Samsen O’Neill stirred the Blackhawks to a 30- point second- half surge following a gritty opening stanza that tested Townsville’s defensive met- tle, with Burleigh well in the fight at half- time trailing 16- 6.

But Townsville turned on the razzle dazzle to crush Burleigh’s hopes of an upset, with the Blackhawks back five flourishing from yet another strong upfront performance.

Townsville junior Jack Kelleher scored his maiden try in the shadows of full- time to cap off the Blackhawks win, which maintains their outright lead on the Intrust Sup Cup ladder.

“Burleigh obviously came to play and they started with plenty of energy,” Blackhawks coach Kristian Woolf said.

“It was their Old Boys day and the club had people making speeches and stuff like that before kick- off, so they had plenty in the way of motivation.

“They came with a mentality to throw the ball around and that provided a good test of our defensive line.”

Missing regular Cowboys allocated players Glenn Hall and Robert Lui through first grade duties, the Blackhawks showed plenty of resolve to see off Burleigh’s firing start and score an early try through centre Moses Pangai, before Johnathan Reuben scored their second after 20 minutes.

A darting run from fullback Jahrome Hughes led to fiveeighth Tom Humble scoring Townsville’s third, but Burleigh finished the half on a high when centre Dimitri Pelo collected a high ball to crash over the tryline.

But it was one- way traffic in the second as the Blackhawks clicked into gear thanks to O’Neill’s double, which he scored before the coup de grace through tries to Kyle Feldt, Zac Santo and Kelleher in a sublime 10- minute period.

“Samsen ( O’Neill) certainly played his best game of the year so far and hopefully he can stay fit and healthy to get some more games under his belt,” Woolf said.

Burleigh had repeat sets at the Blackhawks line in the final minute, but were denied by desperate defence.

“There’s been times this year where we’ve allowed those sort of tries in, but it was good to see the boys making an effort to shut them out at the very end,” Woolf said. TOWNSVILLE BLACKHAWKS 46 ( Samsen O’Neill 2, Zac Santo, Kyle Feldt, Mosese Pangai, Jonathan Reuben, Tom Humble, Jack Kelleher; 7 goals Kyle Feldt) def BURLEIGH BEARS 12 ( Jamie Anderson, Dimitri Pelo; 2 goals Khan Ahwang 2).