FALCONS FLY AGAINST THE CYCLONES
THE Cairns Falcons have overcome a “diabolic” first half to defeat bitter rivals and defending champions Townsville to go a long way towards booking a home semi-final.
Cairns, Townsville and Mackay entered the weekend with hopes of locking in second position, behind Rockhampton, but the FNQ club were the only team of those three to win in the crucial round.
The Falcons trailed at halftime before both the offensive and defensive units kicked into gear after the long break.
Experienced Falcons Leigh Coulter and Jake Leumann scored the touchdowns in the triumph, with Leumann also kicking the extra points, despite battling the flu during the contest.
A home semi-final is now in touching distance, secondyear Falcons coach Jim Garcia says, with another victory at Mackay this coming Saturday able to secure it completely.
“We were diabolic in the first half, the amount of dropped ball we had, silly mistakes, but we really turned it around in the second half,” Garcia said.
“Our offence put the points on the board to get us ahead midway through the fourth quarter with a field goal.
“Our second half was just all defence. We toughed it out really.”
The minor premiers secure a home grand final, which is likely to be Rockhampton, with second and third playing for the other spot in the decider.
In the other weekend fixture, Rockhampton locked in the minor premiership and hosting rights in the finals as they belted Mackay.