Super Blackhawks too hot for Devils
THE Townsville Blackhawks have put their Queensland Cup rivals on notice after taking down ladder leaders the Norths Devils 30- 16 at Jack Manski Oval yesterday afternoon.
The Blackhawks lost halfback Jaelen Feeney to illness before kick- off, but his replacement Sam Foster had a hand in three tries to help spark a dominant victory for the home side.
Cowboys backrower Shaun Fensom made his return from a broken leg with a solid 44- minute stint off the bench for the Blackhawks.
It was Townsville’s third win in a row after an early season slump, and while coach Kristian Woolf didn’t want to call it a statement game, he said it was another big step.
“We played really tough and we really wanted to defend that game out and I thought for the most part our defence was outstanding,” Woolf said.
“We gave away too many penalties and probably made too many errors when we didn’t need to, but outside of that I thought we were really good and physically really dominated that game.
“The other thing that’s important is we’re starting to get some wins at home. We should not be beaten here at home.”
The Blackhawks made a dream start as centre Shaun Hudson crossed for a try in just the second minute and fullback Jonathon Reuben quickly followed it up for an early 10- 0 lead.
Norths came up with a strong response as centre Gehamat Shibasaki finished off a slick backline play and halfback Todd Murphy added the extras to make it 10- 6 after 18 minutes.
Hudson and Reuben combined for Townsville’s third try after a brilliant linebreak before five- eighth Zach Dockar- Clay slotted a tough sideline conversion to push their lead back out to 10 points.
The Blackhawks were put under pressure as Norths forced a repeat set followed by back- to- back penalties and winger Paul Ulberg took advantage as the visitors got it back to 16- 10.
But Townsville regained the momentum after a run of penalties on the stroke of halftime which saw Norths backrower Guy Williams sent to the sin bin and Dockar- Clay took the easy penalty goal to make it 18- 10 at the break.
Those two points proved crucial early in the second half as Norths’ defied their 12- man disadvantage when fullback Jack Ahearn found the line to get his side to within striking distance at 18- 16.
But the Blackhawks were quick to hit back through winger Levi Dodd before captain Jake Marketo burrowed his way over from dummy half as their lead blew out to 30- 16.
The Blackhawks had some injury concerns after centre Jordan Drew failed a HIA in the second half.
TOWNSVILLE BLACKHAWKS 30 ( Jonathon Reuben 2, Shaun Hudson, Levi Dodd, Jake Marketo tries; Zach Clay 5 goals) def NORTHS
DEVILS 16 ( Gehamat Shibasaki, Paul Ulberg, Jack Ahearn tries; Todd Murphy 2 goals) at Jack Manski Oval.