Neil Cadigan / QRL media
The Ben Campbell Group Seagulls were their own worst enemies in the first half of Sunday’s clash against Souths Logan Magpies at Davies Park, leading to a 22-point half-time deficit that proved insurmountable.
The Gulls went down 28-10, scoring the only points of the second half, after being behind 28-6 at the break in oppressive heat.
Played in humid conditions; both teams found it difficult to control the ball and their discipline was also lacking in major stages of the game.
However, a more experienced Souths Logan side were still able to show their class early after taking just two minutes to get on the board with halfback Sam Scarlett finding his way over the line.
A dropped ball by the Seagulls as they were attempting to push for points of their own close to the line gifted possession back to the Magpies and they used their chance, with Jordan Scott dummying at the line before going over.
Back-to-back penalties again saw the Magpies take advantage, and the big frame of lock Patrick Mago proved too hard to handle as he run his way through the inexperienced Tweed Heads goal-line defence.
Guy Hamilton’s third successful conversion had his side up 18-0 with the first half only just entering its second phase.
“We just turned over too much cheap possession and didn’t defend well enough off the back of it,” said a disappointed coach Ben Woolf.
“We just weren’t smart enough; we were carried into touch a couple of times and gave some ‘six to go sets’ on the last tackle, were guilty of errors early in the tackle count.
“In the first 20 minutes we only had the ball for two or three sets; we weren’t good enough defensively then gave away penalties – it just snowballed.
“We knew we needed to control possession and turn them around but we did the exact opposite. And we also gave away a lot of penalties. The only real positive was we scored the only points of the second half, so we showed some character there.”
It seemed the Seagulls would be able to fight their way back when they were able to hold possession for a sustained period thanks to Magpie errors – but it took them until the 28th minute to crack the home team’s line through centre Brayden McGrady.
However, that was all short-lived as the Magpies crossed twice more to round out the half, with Hamilton putting in a step at the line before slicing over; while Brendon Gibb in his 150th game was able to celebrate with a try, crossing in the final minute of the half.
The Seagulls were able to tighten their defence considerably in the second half and frustrated the Magpies into making errors.
The home side were unable to cross the line for any more points – the Seagulls were the only team to score and it came when a high kick from Lindon McGrady found its way into the arms of his cousin Brayden.
Brayden showed some classy touches but has a nervous wait to see if he will be hit with a dangerous throw charge after being involved in a lifting tackle.
SOUTHS LOGAN MAGPIES 28 (Sam Scarlett, Jordon Scott, Patrick Mago, Guy Hamilton, Brendon Gibb tries; Guy Hamilton 4 goals) def. TWEED HEADS SEAGULLS 10 (Brayden McGrady 2 tries; Lindon McGrady goal) at Davies Park.
LADDER AFTER RD 2
| Team | Played | Won | Draw | Lost | Bye | For | Agnst | Total |
| Norths Devils | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 28 | 4 |
| Burleigh Bears | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 59 | 34 | 4 |
| Souths Logan Magpies | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 25 | 4 |
| Townsville Blackhawks | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 74 | 32 | 2 |
| Wynnum Manly Seagulls | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 35 | 2 |
| Easts Tigers | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 39 | 2 |
| Northern Pride | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 38 | 38 | 2 |
| PNG Hunters | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 38 | 2 |
| Ipswich Jets | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 40 | 2 |
| Sunshine Coast Falcons | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 56 | 2 |
| CQ Capras | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 50 | 2 |
| Redcliffe Dolphins | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 41 | 0 |
| Tweed Heads Seagulls | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 52 | 0 |
| Mackay Cutters | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 36 | 82 | 0 |
NEXT WEEK’S GAMES
Saturday
Tweed Heads Seagulls v Burleigh Bears at Piggabeen Sports 1:10pm Qld Time (Ch 9)
Easts Tigers v Ipswich Jets at Suzuki Stadium, Langlands Park 5:00pm
Mackay Cutters v CQ Capras at BB Print Stadium, Mackay 6:00pm
Townsville Blackhawks v Northern Pride at Jack Manski Oval 6:00pm
Sunday
Wynnum Manly Seagulls v Redcliffe Dolphins at BMD Kougari Oval 3:00pm
Souths Logan Magpies v Norths Devils at Davies Park 3:00pm
Sunshine Coast Falcons v PNG Hunters at Sunshine Coast Stadium 3:00pm
HASTINGS DEERING COLTS:
VICTORIA THUNDERBOLTS 36 (Tino Fa’asuamaleaui 2, Trent Toelau 2, Iliesa Ratuva, Derek Maota, Christopher Schwalger tries; Cooper Johns 4 goals) def TWEED HEADS SEAGULLS 16 (Benjamin Thomas 2, Gerard Ah-Nau tries; Bayley Gill, Bostyn Hakaraia goals) at Gosch’s Paddock, Richmond.
MAL MENINGA CUP
TWEED HEADS SEAGULLS 42 (Blake Campbell 2, Thomas Dearden, Noah Gafa, Cole Geyer, Toby Sexton, Codey McLaughlin tries; Toby Sexton 7 goals) def VICTORIA THUNDERBOLTS 10 (Haele Finau, Mali Lepou tries; Tangatta Teroi goal) at Gosch’s Paddock, Richmond.
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