Round 6
Tweed Heads 10 l. North Qld Young Guns 26

2007 Wizard Queensland Cup Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: Australia > Queensland > State/Metropolitan Level Competition: Wizard Queensland Cup

Young Guns Drive By For Victory
Mon April 23, 2007
Source: www.qrl.com.au

It was a hit and run for the North Queensland Young Guns on Sunday, flexing their muscles then fleeing the scene as they came from behind to beat Tweed Heads 26-10.

In a performance dubbed 'uncharacteristic' by coach Matt Parish, the normally attacking Young Guns rolled up their sleeves and got physical after trailing 10-8 at halftime.

In particular Parish praised Sam Faust and Rod Jensen for putting their bodies on the line, both performing some cracking tackles to subdue Tweed, a side known for its fondness of body contact.

"The defence was magnificent. We played a really tough brand of football today and I was proud," Parish said.

"The Young Guns are not necessarily known for that style, or at least people choose not to recognise us that way.

"But there were a couple of very big hits out there today. Fausty was very tough, Jensen pulled off a great shot to dislodge the ball at an important time and our hooker Scotty Smith played out the game with stitches around his mouth."

The unveiling of the 'dark' Young Guns could not have come at a better time.

The roadtrip from Townsville to Tweed Heads is the toughest in the Wizard Cup, necessitating all the usual airport rigmorale, plus lengthy road trips to and from Brisbane.

So much so that kick-off was scheduled early at the unusual time of 2.30pm and the Young Guns celebrated little in the sheds before jumping on the team bus in time to get the flight home.

By all means Tweed made the visitors work for their points and the final scoreline was not reflective of the evenness of the contest.

Even Parish said he never felt assured of victory until eight minutes from fulltime, as Tweed debuted quicksilver Shannon Walker, recent scorer of five tries in a Colts match.

His 2006 Australian Schoolboys teammate Will Matthews also got his first start in the State League at prop, not once shying away in a brutal contest.

While the forwards dictated the battle, halves Shane Muspratt and Jackson Nicolau continued to provide one of the best one-two punches in the league for the Young Guns.

Experienced head Muspratt, playing the steady hand to Nicolau's flashy youthfulness, led by example and applied himself ruggedly in attack and defence.

Both North Queensland and Tweed Heads remain in the top five. The Young Guns occupy top spot, while the Seagulls sling to fifth on for-and-against after other results fell their way.

Next week has the Young Guns hosting Wynnum Manly at Dairy Farmers Stadium at 5.30pm on Saturday, while Tweed Heads welcomes Redcliffe to the Piggabeen Complex at 3pm the following day.

NORTH QUEENSLAND 26 (Joe Clarke 2, Obe Geia, Ben Farrar, John Frith tries; Jackson Nicolau 3 goals) d TWEED HEADS 10 (Shannon Walker, Matt Pow tries; Brad Davis goal) at the Piggabeen Complex.

Report sent by: www.qrl.com.au

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