by John Bartley
THE STM Mackay Cutters have brushed aside the Easts Tigers by 50 points to 20, and recorded their fourth consecutive victory in front of a hostile away crowd at Langlands Park. It may have been the coldest day in Brisbane for 2010, but the Cutters were red hot, crossing for nine tries against the determined, yet under strength home side.
The Cutters got on the board early, with Chris Giumelli sending Michael Comerford away down the right side, in a slick move that had Easts fullback Matt Lindsay clutching at air. Mackay were unable to capitalise on several opportunities shortly afterwards, but were rewarded for their persistence when halfback Todd Seymour threw a perfectly timed pass to whiz kid Justin Hunt, who dived next to the posts to extended the Cutters lead to 10-0.
A helpful penalty allowed the Cutters into attacking range midway through the first half; and winger Don Malone took advantage of the good field position, slicing through the Tigers left edge defenders, and increasing the lead to 16.
Things were about to get better for the visitors, when Obe Gaia showed off his soccer skills, kicking the ball ahead three times and regathering ahead of the Tigers fullback in a brilliant 55 metre effort.
The lead blew out to 28 points after a midfield bomb defied Lindsay, and gave Todd Seymour an easy passage under the posts. Another midfield raid saw back rower Jardine Bobongie’s offload find pivot Grant Rovelli, who evaded the woeful Tigers defence to produce yet another try. The final four pointer of the half belonged to centre Michael Comerford, who crossed for his second try of the game right on the halftime siren. The Cutters left the field with a 38-0 lead, and the match was practically over.
But the Easts Tigers were determined to give their home fans something to cheer about, and they began bridging the huge deficit immediately after half time through Dean Shepphard. The score stood at 38-6, and just as the Tigers were getting back on track, they lost centre Kev Stephenson after a nasty head clash with his own team mate in attempting a tackle on a Cutters attacking player.
Don Malone added insult to injury, scoring his second try of the day despite a desperate attempt from Easts to bat the ball out of play. Hunt converted, and the score was out to 44-6. Hunt added to his personal tally of points, joining Malone and Comerford as a double try scorer for the rampant Cutters. He converted his own try, and the Cutters had racked up a neat 50.
Easts managed to rally a late resurgence as the Cutters defence began to lapse, with Morris, Thorpe and Stosic scoring for the home side. The chase was in vain though, with the Cutters running out comfortable winners 50-20.
Coach Paul Bramley said he was delighted with his teams’ first half, but said the second half lapse was disappointing. “I was extremely happy with the first half; I thought we played near perfect footy. Everything the boys did was really well executed, but then we went and lost the second half. But at 38-0 it’s hard to keep motivated and driven like we were in the first half. We beat ourselves in the second half, and it was a bit disappointing.”
Bramley gave his men a big wrap in pulling out the victory in front of a hostile crowd. “I couldn’t fault a single player out there in the first half. Liam McDonald played 70 minutes out there, which is outstanding for a front rower. Don Malone was solid out there as well, and our halves (Grant Rovelli and Todd Seymour) in the first half were perfect.”
Fans out at Langlands Park were given a special treat post game, with the South Sydney Rabbitohs NRL team arriving for an open training session and a meet and greet ahead of Sunday‘s NRL match up with the Brisbane Broncos.
Meanwhile the Cutters now have the luxury of four consecutive home games, starting this Saturday with a tough Round 14 match up against the third placed Redcliffe Dolphins at 5.30pm at the Mackay JRL grounds.
© Mackay Cutters 2010. All rights reserved.
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