Courtesy of the QRL
MACKAY five-eighth Daniel Abraham has turned in a vintage display of attacking rugby league to steer the Cutters to a hard-fought 26-24 Queensland Cup victory over Wynnum Manly.
Abraham was pure class with the ball in hand, orchestrating two wonderful second-half tries on a rain-sodden BMD Kougari Oval.
The former Newcastle Knight cracked the game wide open in the second half when he delivered a miracle one-handed pass on to the chest of Ben Farrer, who sprinted 50 metres to score.
The 42nd minute try put the Cutters in front 16-10.
Wynnum fought its way back into the contest with a converted try to Gerald Beale and a Ben Green penalty goal.
Green’s penalty kick put the Seagulls in front 18-16.
But the Seagulls couldn’t keep Abraham out of the game and the Cutters were soon back in front.
In the 61st minute and with the game in the balance, Abraham put a lovely short ball on to the chest of Darren Griffiths who sliced through to score.
The Cutters never looked like getting beaten from that point on. The visitors surged further in front when Quinton Fielder carried three defenders over the line to score.
Abraham’s conversion carried the Cutters to a 26-18 lead.
Wynnum Manly’s persistent fullback Simon Phillips snuck over for a consolation try in the final minute but it was all too late for the Seagulls.
In the final wash up, the Seagulls simply didn’t post enough points when they had a mountain of possession early in the second half.
Wynnum received a string of penalties which provided a perfect attacking platform.
But the Cutters repelled the majority of the attacking raids in a gusty performance.
The Cutters were also reduced to 12 men midway through the second half after inspirational lock Jardine Bobongie was sin-binned for repeated ruck infringements.
Mackay coach Shane Muspratt was thrilled to walk away with the victory, their fourth of the season.
“That would be our best win,” Muspratt declared.
“We only had 25 sets for the whole game.”
In today’s other match, Redcliffe produced a stunning second half performance to thump the Norths Devils 32-14 at Bishop Park.
The Devils led 14-0 after just 15 minutes following tries from Jharal Yow Yeh, Gideon Mzembe and Jace Brown.
But the Devils soon found themselves on the back foot as the Dolphins capitalised on a string of penalties to bridge the gap to 14-10 at half-time.
The home team was dreadful at times in the second half.
Norths halfback Ben Hunt struggled to make an impact in his first match back from a shoulder injury.
The Dolphins had no such problems in the halves, with Palmer Wapau and Dane Campbell toying with their opponents in the final 40 minutes.
Wapau, who replaced the injured Tim Yee at five-eighth, was at his destructive best.
Alwyn Simpson capped off a memorable outing for the Dolphins when he took an intercept and raced away to score the final try of the game in the 75th minute.
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