Blackhawks fight back

A BOLD decision to turn down a late penalty goal has paid off for the Townsville Blackhawks as they came from behind to beat Wynnum Manly 26- 16 at Jack Manski Oval yesterday afternoon.

The Blackhawks trailed 16- 6 at halftime and were still down by two points with just over 10 minutes left when they opted not to take a gift penalty attempt from right in front.

That gamble looked like it would come back to haunt Townsville when they failed to score from the ensuing set, but a length- of- the- field effort from Kalifa Faifai Loa just moments later sealed a brilliant comeback.

The Blackhawks were a step off the pace in the first half following last weekend’s bye, but coach Kristian Woolf felt they finally had the momentum over the Seagulls when they turned down the penalty.

“It just felt like we were a metre off the pace and not ready for a tough game of footy, but we addressed that at halftime,” Woolf said. “We had a completely different attitude from the very first tackle in the second half. We got off our line and we got some really good contact and everything just rolled off that.

“I just thought at that stage of the game ( when they got the penalty) it was the first time since the first 10 or 15 minutes that we’d got right back on top of them.

“It certainly could’ve come back and bit us, but I just felt we were physically and mentally over the top of them and I think we proved that.” The home side drew first blood as Jaelen Feeney got an offload away for Temone Power to score beside the posts and give his side a 6- 0 lead after eight minutes.

A scrum feed 30m out soon gave the Seagulls a chance to hit back and winger Daniel Ogden scored in the corner before Shaun Nona nailed the conversion to draw level.

The momentum started to swing against the Blackhawks and a knock- on on Wynnum’s line followed by consecutive penalties saw the visitors take a 12- 6 lead through prop Junior Pita.

Feeney looked to have hit back for the Blackhawks only for the referee to blow a penalty for obstruction before the Seagulls forced a dropout down the other end of the field.

Blackhawks centre Shaun Hudson couldn’t clean up a kick and his opposite number Edward Burns pounced on the loose ball as Wynnum’s lead blew out to 16- 6 at halftime.

The Seagulls failed to find touch from a penalty early in the second half and the Blackhawks took full advantage as Ty Carucci sliced through to get his side to within six points.

Townsville started to throw the ball around as halfback Zach Dockar- Clay finished off a thrilling passage of play to score, but Dodd’s conversion attempt was waved away to keep it at 16- 14.

The Blackhawks under- 20s surged to the top of the ladder with a 25- 10 win over the Seagulls in the day’s second game.

FULL Q CUP SCORE AND LADDER PAGE 36