Falcons felled in boilover
THE Townsville Blackhawks are just 80 minutes away from the Queensland Cup grand final after conjuring a 20-12 semi-final upset over minor premiers the Sunshine Coast Falcons yesterday.
The powerhouse Falcons had lost just one game all season and comfortably beat the Blackhawks in their previous two encounters, but Townsville came out firing in the qualifying semi-final.
Five-eighth Jaelen Feeney scored a double as the Blackhawks led from just the third minute at Sunshine Coast Stadium and they never looked back to earn a week off and a home preliminary final.
“The Falcons are a good side, but like I’ve said all along, we knew that we could beat them,” Blackhawks coach Aaron Payne said.
“We’ve got a belief among the group and it’s just about us learning our lessons from last time we played them and playing for 80 minutes and we did that.
“We still weren’t perfect, but particularly defensively we just kept turning up for each other and kept ripping in for each other.
“The boys are all very excited, which they deserve to be, but there’s also a realisation that there’s still unfinished business.
“We’ve still got a couple of games to go, but we’re sitting in a good spot.”
The Blackhawks made a dream start against the minor premiers when fullback Nathan Traill won the race for a kick from Feeney to score the opening try after just three minutes.
Halfback Shaun Nona couldn’t slot the conversion, but the Blackhawks were soon in again when young backrower Nathan Barrett spied a gap as they pushed their lead out to 8-0 after 20 minutes.
The Falcons were quick to respond thanks to an elusive run from centre Chris Lewis to score before halfback Todd Murphy’s conversion got it back to a two-point margin.
But a penalty try ensured the visitors went into halftime with a healthy 14-6 lead after it was ruled Feeney had been tackled without the ball in-goal while chasing a kick from Nona.
Both sides had their chances in the opposition 20 without success early in the second half as Falcons captain Dane Hogan and Blackhawks winger Kalifa Faifai Loa were called back for forward passes.
Falcons winger Nat Mcgavin was finally able to take advantage of an overlap to score as the home side slashed the margin to 14-12 with just under 20 minutes left to play.
But the Blackhawks soon hit back when winger Zac Santo made a break and found Feeney in support as the five-eighth scored under the posts to make it 20-12.
An error from Traill gifted the Falcons a late attacking opportunity, but they couldn’t make it count.
Queensland Cup qualifying semi-final:
TOWNSVILLE BLACKHAWKS 20 (Jaelen Feeney 2, Nathan Traill, Nathan Barrett, tries; Shaun Nona 2/4 goals) def SUNSHINE COAST FALCONS 12 (Chris Lewis, Nat Mcgavin tries; Todd Murphy 2/2 goals) at Sunshine Coast Stadium