THE Norths Devils have snapped the STM Mackay Cutters undefeated home record with an enthralling 28-26 victory at the Mackay JRL Grounds. The under-strength Cutters gave themselves every chance of beating the competition leaders, going into the sheds level at 10-all. Unfortunately, they gave up a huge 18 point deficit midway through the second half, and despite a late surge it proved too much of a task in the end.
Mackay couldn’t have dreamed for a better start to the game, with the Devils knocking on the opening kickoff. From the ensuing scrum Arana Taumata managed to dart through the Devils defence to put the Cutters on the board with the match just over one minute old. Josh Hannay slotted the conversion despite the windy conditions, and the Cutters led 6-0.
Astonishingly, Grant Rovelli knocked on the return kickoff from Norths, but the Cutters held off the determined Devils under immense pressure. The Cutters line eventually broke however, Devils winger Kayle Connor scoring just before the ten minute mark. A missed conversion from Troy Watene left the Cutters clinging to a 6 points to 4 lead.
The Devils scored again through Watene, despite a questionable pass, putting the visitors ahead 10-6. The Cutters ensured the table topping Devils had something to think about during half time, as Darren Griffiths scored from some great ball play towards the left flank. Josh Hannay missed the conversion, and the two teams went into halftime level at 10-all.
It looked as though stand in fullback Khan Ah Wang had given the Cutters the lead almost instantly after half time, but the final pass was ruled forward by the referee. Instead it was Norths who broke the deadlock, second rower Brendan Gibb barging through some soft Cutters defence to give Norths a 16-10 lead.
The Devils further increased their advantage, with Jack Reed brushing aside the home side’s defence. Watene added the extras and Norths were cruising at 22-10. The Devils then piled on another converted try, Joesfa Davui evading the Cutters defence and planting the ball down in the right hand corner. The score had blown out to 28 to 10, and the Cutters had it all to do in the final 20 minutes of play.
Winger Michael Comerford sparked the faint hopes of the home crowd, latching onto a Grant Rovelli chip and scoring untouched in the left corner. Hannay missed the crucial kick, though the Devils lead was cut back to 28-14.
Five minutes was all that remained when Khan Ah Wang collected his first try of the afternoon, a friendly bounce of the ball and Hannay’s easy conversion helping the home side close the gap to just 8 points. Isaak Ah Mau then barged over with less then three minutes of game time left, Josh Hannay kicked the rushed conversion and the score was 28-26.
Norths Devils were forced to defend grimly for the remainder of the match, and despite a last-gasp chip and chase effort from the Cutters, the Devils held on for a gripping two point victory.
Cutters coach Paul Bramley was critical of his team’s performance, citing a brief lapse in concentration and intensity may have cost them the win. “We were right in the game at halftime but we had 20 minutes of flat, unenergetic football and in the end that cost us the win.
“To the boys’ credit they never gave up, but trying to hold off a team like Norths for 80 minutes, not a lot of teams can do that. But we’ll come away from it with our heads up, and we’ll bounce back next week.”
The Cutters host the Burleigh Bears next Saturday night at the Mackay JRL Grounds, where a win will see them leapfrog the Bears into 5th place on the Intrust SuperCup ladder.
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