Round 7
North Qld Young Guns 22 d. Wynnum Manly Seagulls 10

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

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

Young Guns Fend Off Wynnum Fightback
Sun April 29, 2007
Source: www.qrl.com.au

The wagon rolls onward for the North Queensland Young Guns, still sitting pretty at the top of the Wizard Cup ladder after a 22-10 victory against Wynnum Manly.

In a contest where momentum shifted back and forth, the Young Guns started the match on fire, averaging a point a minute as they shot to a 14-0 lead.

Tries to NRL regulars Neil Sweeney and Ty Williams, plus three goals to Jackson Nicolau set the tone for what looked like a possible cricket score.

At that stage the northerners were controlling everything and it was only desperate defence and occasional lapses in ball-handling which prevented them from racking up a larger total.

In front of a boisterous Dairy Farmers Stadium crowd the visiting Seagulls had a choice of two options. They could either sink under the weight of pressure or stand and fight.

Shane McNally's men decided on the latter and were driven forward by the return of experienced forward John Bruce, a product of nearby Bowen.

Having missed the start of the season due to injury, Bruce went close to scoring Wynnum's first points with a surging run, only to be pulled up just short. Fellow forward Herewini Rangi followed suit, but he too was dragged down inches before the line.

It took right up until the 34th minute for the Seagulls to post their first points, as they began to tire North Queensland with second-phase play. Interchange hooker Wade Bachmann started a sharp movement and the ball went wide for rookie Chris McQueen to score.

That made the score 14-4 and the Young Guns were given something to ponder at the break. North Queensland also had forward Ryan Bartlett placed on report moments before halftime for use of the forearm.

The start of the second stanza brought even greater cause for concern as Bruce lurched over for Wynnum's second try, again coming from good lead-up by Bachmann. The Seagulls were now only in arrears by a score of 14-10.

But North Queensland's firepower is hard to suppress, as any team in the competition would attest. Fullback Mark Henry showed as much, racing over for a try in the 66th to give a more comfortable buffer.

In the dying minutes McQueen, the heavily pierced boilermaker from Kingaroy, almost grabbed his second try for Wynnum, but dropped the ball with the line open. Making the Gulls pay, brutish Young Guns forward Scott Bolton capped off the score with a 70m try as the clock wound down.

Next round sees Wynnum Manly host Redcliffe on Saturday at BMD Kougari Oval at 2pm. North Queensland plays a rare Monday night game against Ipswich at Carrar Stadium, beginning at 4.55pm.

NORTH QUEENSLAND 22 (Mark Henry, Neil Sweeney, Ty Williams, Scott Bolton tries; Jackson Nicolau 3 goals) d WYNNUM MANLY 10 (Chris McQueen, John Bruce tries; Denny Lambert goal) at Dairy Farmers Stadium.

Report sent by: www.qrl.com.au

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