ST MARY’S ADDS WALTERS TITLE
Fairytale year continues
A stellar year for St Mary’s College has continued with the school bringing the Walters Cup back to Toowoomba.
The college took home the title of U15s south east Queensland champions after a comeback 22-12 victory over Keebra Park State High School.
After trailing 12-6 at halftime, St Mary’s produced a thrilling final 25 minutes, scoring three unanswered tries to lift the silverware.
“It was a weird one because we’d never gone into half-time down,” coach Matt Jahnke said.
“I put the challenge out with how they wanted to respond and how they wanted to be remembered for their season.
“We spoke about (how) the tide will turn, we just needed to stay tough and hang in the fight.”
They responded to the call, coming out firing as Tyson White crossed from short range after just four minutes to tie up the scores.
Jahnke said a key period following their hit-back set the tone for the rest of the game.
“The turning point was when they had three sets at our line in the early stages of the second half,” he said.
“They come at us pretty hard and the boys repelled every single one of those.
“The boys held really tough and believed defensively they could get the job done.
“They never give up. They’re tight and they just won’t allow anyone to beat them.”
With 18 minutes remaining, Blake Cesari made the most of early ball, slicing through the Keebra Park defence to pick up his second try, before White produced the play of the game.
With the opposition camped in their own territory he incredibly caught his own charge down to race 35 metres to score, sealing the victory for St Mary’s.
“(There was) a bit of luck came off there,” White said.
“It went up (into my hands) and as I spun I caught it.
“They’re my brothers. There’s nothing better to be honest.”
The win adds to the success of the school throughout the grades in 2018, after the opens team took home the Confraternity Shield and made the quarter finals of the Schoolboy Cup.
“The boys now believe they are competitive and they can match it with anyone,” Jahnke said.
“It’s given them the belief to go forward and continue working hard and hopefully still getting the results at the end of the day.”