BLACKHAWKS’ STALEMATE AGAINST TIGERS

THE Townsville Blackhawks are licking their wounds after letting a sensational Intrust Super Cup victory fall through their hands yesterday.

The Blackhawks were on the cusp of winning what may have been the year’s best ISC clash, leading 40- 34 with two minutes to go after surging back from a 12- point deficit.

But the Tigers regathered a short restart, got the benefit of six more tackles and scored an equaliser when prop Donald Malone barged over.

It was a bitter pill for the Blackhawks to swallow after playing much of the game without lock Neville Costigan – who was sidelined with concussion after 17 minutes – and prop Ricky Thorby, who was stretchered from the field just after the hour mark as a precautionary measure following heavy contact.

Thorby had scans overnight but could be available for this weekend’s away game against the PNG Hunters.

Blackhawks coach Kristian Woolf conceded his team succumbed to the Tigers niggle; a case- in- point being Mosese Pangai getting put on report and sin- binned for 10 minutes after headbutting a Tigers player during a second- half melee.

“Easts

play

with

a

lot

of niggle and they had a bit of success with us,” Woolf said.

“We certainly have to be smarter, handle it better and stick to our own guns.

“We just weren’t smart enough at the end, and I guess they got a lucky penalty to get that extra set of six, but full credit to Easts as well.

“It’s a good reminder that we need to keep working hard, and intensity- wise and with the calibre of team we faced, it is a taste of what we can expect come finals.”

The Blackhawks still hold an outright lead on the ISC ladder, but their heavyweight billing failed to intimidate the Tigers, who instead appeared to relish getting in the Blackhawks’ faces.