Fogarty impressive as Tweed miss out

Tweed Heads halfback Jamal Fogarty pushed his claims for an NRL debut with an impressive performance against the Northern Pride on Saturday night.

With injury clouds hanging over NRL playmakers Kane Elgey and Aidan Sezer, Fogarty put in a timely display for the Seagulls, capping off a consistent month of football with a controlled game against the Pride.

Despite Tweed going down 24-18, Fogarty controlled the match for the visitors, organising the Seagulls attack to keep them in the contest. Teammate Kalifa Faifai Loa said Fogarty’s recent form had been outstanding for the Titans’ feeder team, despite the loss on the weekend.

“Jamal was really good again, he has been in consistent form and organising us really well,” said Faifai Loa.

The Titans’ winger said it was a disappointing result after leading 18-10 at half-time but conceding three season half tries to none.  

“We were in the match for a long way even though they scored two more tries than us.”

Titans’ back-rower Matt Robinson continued his good form for the Seagulls, crossing the line for the second week in a row, while Leva Li and Faifai Loa were solid again out wide. Forward Matt White made an impact coming off the bench.

“It was probably the most disappointing game I’ve had to sit on the sideline for,” Seagulls coach Aaron Zimmerle said.

“For 20 minutes we played [OK]. They put in every week, but we are shooting ourselves in the foot and just defending.”

Titans player and in-form centre Davin Crampton was a late withdrawal for Tweed after injuring his knee in the final training session. Crampton will visit a specialist tomorrow to determine the extent of the damage but fears it could be season ending.

The loss came at a cost for Tweed, with local rivals Burleigh moving above them on the ladder with a much-needed win against the Central Queensland Capras at Pizzey Park.

The Bears victory was a timely boost, after suffering heavy losses to Tweed Heads and Townsville in recent weeks. Burleigh coach Jim Lenihan said the win was important to give his side confidence again.

“I think we took a real confidence hit after the Townsville game,” Lenihan said.

“We’re still probably fragile a little bit, but we’ve just got to keep working on doing things well, work hard at training and start banking that confidence once again.

“We’ve got to start learning to believe in ourselves once again and make sure that we can do things well and not read into what’s been said about us.”

Burleigh took control of the match on the back of their forward pack, with Titans’ big man Mark Ioane putting in a powerful performance and scoring the final try five minutes from the end to seal the game for the Bears.

Speedster Kevin Gordon put his name up for a recall to the NRL side, scoring a try and causing havoc out wide on the left. Gordon will come into consideration for Titans’ coach Neil Henry this week, with the possibility of Josh Hoffman moving to five-eighth and David Mead to fullback as Henry looks to cover his injured halves pairing.

Fullback Tylor Chadburn was man of the match but interchange prop Josh Ailaomai put in an eye-catching performance with his charging runs and young five-eighth Connor Toia was impressive.

Burleigh has another home game this week, taking on the Norths Devils 1.40pm Sunday, while Tweed Heads will host East Tigers 3.00pm Sunday.

BURLEIGH BEARS 28 (Tyler Chadburn, Connor Broadhurst, Kevin Gordon, Mark Ioane, Josh Ailaomai tries; Tyler Chadburn 4 goals) def CQ CAPRAS 12 (Dan Randall, Gavin Hiscox tries; Matt Minto 2 goals) at Pizzey Park.

Burleigh Bears: 1. Tyler Chadburn 2. Connor Broadhurst 3. Jaiden Hawkes 4. Dimitri Pelo 5. Kevin Gordon 6. Connor Toia 7. Ryley Jacks 8. Mitch Sharp 9. Tom Rowles 10. Mark Ioane 11. Ayden Lee 12. Louis Fanene 13. Darren Griffiths (c) 14. Marino Allen 16. Jason Chan 17. Josh Ailaomai 20. David Hala                   

NORTHERN PRIDE 24 (Linc Port 2, Graham Clark 2, Javid Bowen tries; Linc Port 2 goals) def TWEED HEADS SEAGULLS 18 (Blake Anderson 2, Matt Robinson tries; Jamal Fogarty 3 goals) at Barlow Park.

Tweed Heads Seagulls: 1. Shaun Carney 2. Nathanael Barnes 3. Leva Li 14. Blake Anderson 5. Kalifa Faifai-Loa 6. Ricardo Parata 7. Jamal Fogarty 8. Damian Sironen (c) 9. Sam Meskell 10. Oliver Percy 11. Matt Robinson 12. Dane Clarke 13. Sam Saville 15. Mark Offerdahl 16. Matt White 17. Will Bugden 18. Ethan Price

POINTS TABLE AFTER ROUND 13