Purdue try seals deal for St Pat’s
The blinding speed of Cowboys-contracted halfback Jaxon Purdue was the fitting final stamp on a three-try scoring blitz that resulted in St Patrick’s College, Mackay, coming from behind to beat Ignatius Park College 20-12 at Leprechaun Park in Mackay.
Purdue’s electric try six minutes from fulltime was the knife twist to seal victory.
He sliced through the heart of the I g n a t i u s Park defence to give his side a matchw i n n i n g eight- point lead in a rematch of last year’s Aaron Payne Cup decider.
Purdue’s try was the high point of seven minutes of rugby league heaven after left wing Hunter Harris and his inside man Tenzin Contor kicked off a 14-point scoring swing in the 47th minute.
Ignatius Park failed to make the most of a dominant opening half when prop Wyatt Lourigan’s early try was matched by Mackay five-eighth Bailey Venz to send the sides to the break tied at 6-all.
Rookie Iggy Park centre Zy Gall received 10 minutes in the sin bin seconds into the second half for a lifting tackle that tipped past the horizontal.
Strong defence and a 95m runaway try to flying winger Iowani Cavuilati meant Ignatius Park won that period 6-0 and the side opened up a 12-6 lead that it would hold until the final 13 minutes.
A strong breeze and poor ball handling opened the door for a St Pat’s comeback.
Purdue’s speed shocked rattled Iggy Park line.
Taking the ball at first receiver, 60m from the goalline, Purdue hit the afterburners to burst through.
It was a perfect start to the schooboys season for St Patrick’s who also won the Cowboys Challenge clash against Ignatius Park 26-6.