Todd PARNELL [
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Mon August 17, 2009
by Queensland Rugby League
Source: www.qrl.com.auTHE Norths Devils said farewell to one of their former stars on an emotion-charged day but they have no plans on biding goodbye to their 2009 Queensland Cup season after a strong 38-28 victory over Tweed Heads.
Norths players linked arms before kick off in memory of Todd Parnell, a well respected 2008 Devils player whose life was tragically cut short.
Fittingly, it was the Devils who set alight the same Bishop Park turf that Parnell had graced last year.
In a strong performance, the Devils again made the rest of the competition stand up and take notice with a comfortable victory over a fellow top six contender.
The Devils have now leapt into fifth spot on percentages and have one foot firmly in the finals door.
"Our destiny is in our own hands now," said Norths coach Kevin Carmichael, whose team will qualify for the finals just a year after collecting the wooden-spoon if it beats the Ipswich Jets next Saturday.
A loss may still be good enough for the Devils to scrape into the finals.
However, Carmichael would rather the Devils carry winning form into the business end of the season.
With a strong pack of forwards, clever halves and lightning fast backs, the Devils loom as a genuine threat for the title should they get an opportunity to mix it with the competition's leading teams.
"I think anyone in that top six can win it," Carmichael declared.
"There is no clear cut favourite anymore now that the top three teams have been beaten in recent weeks."
Carmichael said his charges no longer lacked confidence in their ability to win the big games.
"They boys have been turning up and there is a fair bit of self belief there now," he said.
Although not quite as impressive as the previous weekend's big upset win over the front-running Souths Logan Magpies, there was still a lot to like about the Devils' victory over Tweed Heads.
The Devils played some sparkling football in the first half to shoot away to a commanding 24-4 lead at the break.
Carmichael conceded the bounce of the ball favoured the Devils at times.
"We haven't really had a lot of luck recently - but the last two weeks we've had a few things go our way," he said.
The Devils registered the opening points of the game after try-scoring sensation Daniel Ogden took an intercept and ran the length of the field to score.
Norths made it 12-0 after Ryan Hansen converted Gideon Mzembe's first try in the 14th minute.
Mzembe came up with the ball after the Seagulls failed to defuse one of Geyer's pin point accurate cross kicks.
The Seagulls hit back through a powerful effort by Kingi Akauola in the 20th minute but the visitors couldn't get the second try they craved before the break.
Instead, it was the Devils who grabbed the ascendancy with two tries before half-time.
The first came courtesy of a strong solo effort from impressive forward Eddy Purcell, while the final try of the half was a spectacular raid completed by that man Ogden.
With his team trailing 18-4 with just 90 second of play remaining, frustrated Tweed skipper Brad Davis put in a chip kick for winger Brenton Bowen.
But the ball bounced unfavourably for the Tweed flyer and was instead gobbled up by Gideon Mzembe.
The former Ipswich Grammar School track and field staff weaved a passage through the Tweed's defence before linking with Matt Gillett, who got one arm free and delivered the final pass to Ogden.
NORTHS DEVILS 38 (Daniel Ogden 2, Gideon Mzembe 2, Eddy Purcell 2 tries; Ryan Hansen 7 goals) def TWEED HEADS SEAGULLS 28 (Kingi Akauola 2, Cameron White 2, Ryan Milligan 2 tries; Brad Davis 2 goals) at Bishop Park.
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 2006 Queensland Cup
Toowoomba Clydesdales
4 tries, 1 goals, 18 points.
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Parnell, Todd
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