It was a great weekend for the iSelect Gold Coast Titans feeder teams as both Intrust Super Cup sides, Burleigh Bears and the Tweed Heads Seagulls, won their matches Sunday.
The Seagulls have climbed into the top five on the ladder after their 36-18 win over the Sunshine Coast Falcons at the Piggabeen Sports Reserve. It was the sixth successive wins for the Seagulls who have been working hard over the past few weeks after their loss against the Hunters in round 7.
“Most clubs just have blokes train on a Friday night which is a last team run but at the moment we’re going down two times a week to get our bond together and we’re really enjoying each other’s company so I think that’s what’s making us click down there,” iSelect Gold Coast Titan Jamal Fogarty said.
It was a close game for the first half, with the Seagulls leading 18-12 at the break. However they were able to pull away and win comfortably.
“We’ve got a bit of confidence amongst the team now, at the start we were all over the place but now our combinations are getting better, everyone knows the style we want to play and we just back ourselves,” said Fogarty who was again a stand-out performer and looks to have regained all his spark that was there before he required a knee reconstruction last season.
The next few weeks are going to be tough for the Seagulls but Fogarty believes the team can get keep the winning roll going. “We just have to prepare well and get on the same page, train hard, and get the job done.”
The Burleigh Bears held on to defeat the Norths Devils 24-22 at Pizzey Park during their annual pink day for breast cancer, and the Tweeds Heads Seagulls defeated the Sunshine Coast Falcons
The Bears, like previous games against the Northern Pride and Redcliffe Dolphins, had the lead at half-time but this time held on to it to earn a much needed win.
“Today we teetered on the edge a little bit but we found the courage and the defence to hold out and I was really happy,” Bears coach Jim Lenihan said.
“We scrambled a lot more, our defence was solid on the line, and we kept them out for quite a few sets. We were more desperate to win and we knew our preparation was good enough to get the win,” iSelect Gold Coast Titan Mark Ioane said about the win.
The game started off evenly as both teams scored early on. The Bears took the lead when Nafe Selunini made a long break through the middle of the field and found Henare Wells in support for the try.
The Bears, especially three-try hero Henare Wells, took advantage of the mistakes the Norths were making. The fullback scored two times before the break to give Burleigh a 12-point lead at half time.
The Devils came back ready in the second half scoring just 10 minutes in, getting them back within a try. They continued to throw plenty of attack at the Bears.
A conversion attempt by Darren Nicholls’ would have tied up the scores, but the kick went wide and the Bears were able to hold on.
The Bears’ next game is this Saturday against the Ipswich Jets. Ioane thinks that if they continue with a strong defence they can continue on winning.
“We need to be consistent and back our defence like we did against the North Devils, that was a big game for us and knowing that we could do that and get the win hopefully we can keep that going,” he said.
TWEED HEADS SEAGULLS 36 (Tom Merritt 2, Jamal Fogarty, James Wood, Damian Sironen, Blake Anderson tries; Blake Anderson 6 goals) def SUNSHINE COAST FALCONS 18 (Callum Klein, David Oakes, Jay Lobwein tries; Ryan Hansen 3 goals) at Piggabeen Sports.
Seagulls: 1. Jamal Fogarty 2. Tom Merritt 3. Luke Dumas 4. James Roberts 5. James Wood (c) 6. Sam Irwin 18. Ben Ridge 8. Damian Sironen 9. Matt King (c) 10. Pele Peletelese 11. Tom Kingston 12. Cory Blair 13. Cody Nelson 14. Blake Anderson 15. Caleb Binge 16. Sam Saville 17. Reg Saunders
BURLEIGH BEARS 24 (Henare Wells 3, Darren Griffiths tries; Khan Ahwang 4 goals) def NORTHS DEVILS 22 (Keiran English 2, Chris Faust, Zach Koitka tries; Darren Nicholls 3 goals) at Pizzey Park.
Bears: 1. Henare Wells 2. Khan Ahwang 3. Corbin Kiernan 4. Demetri Pelo 5. Zac Mackay 6. Conner Toia 7. Ryley Jacks 8. Mark Ioane 9. Nafe Seluini 10. Matt Bell 11. James Dunley 12. Kyle McConnell 13. Darren Griffiths (c) 14. Matt Beddow 15. Siuatonga Likiliki 16. Chris Kitching 17. Nick Harrold
