Second Half Onslaught Sinks Magpies

Neil Cadigan

The Campbell Construction Co. Tweed Seagulls gave an indication of what they are capable of in this year’s Intrust Super Cup when they scored 28 unanswered points against Souths Logan Magpies before running out 40-24 winners at Tugun on Saturday afternoon.

The Seagulls were behind 14-12 at half-time before running away with the match.

Highly professional and often unheralded left centre Lee Turner picked up two tries with all other tries scored by Gold Coast Titans representatives with lock Sam McIntyre also getting a double and prop Jai Whitfield, fullback Jayden Campbell and bench forward Darius Farmer each crossing.

“Even though we scored 40 points we still turned over too much cheap ball and lacked some cohesion in attack at times,” admitted coach Ben Woolf.

“But after letting them in for a try in the fourth minute, on the back of a couple of penalties, I thought we competed well, particularly with our aggression in defence.

“We’re fortunate to have a really good impact off the bench (Whitfield, Farmer, Brent Woolf and Braden Robson) and didn’t get Darius Farmer onto the field until the last 30 minutes, which showed how well our middle performed.

“The bench forwards did a really good job for us in the middle of the game before the starting middle came back on and that’s going to be one of our strong points this season.”

However, for the third time in their three matches this season, the Seagulls were behind on the scoreboard at half-time before finishing stronger than their opponents.

Woolf’s hope that his side would get off to their best start of the season was smashed in just the fourth minute when Magpies lock Kobe Hetherington crossed in only Souths Logan’s second set with the ball. Kevin Locke’s conversion gave them a 6-0 lead.

However, Tweed settled into their stride soon after and posted two tries just two minutes apart, to take the lead 12-6, only for the Magpies to hit back quickly and level the scores with a try to hooker Cory Paix in the 19^th minute.

The Seagulls tries came from lock Sam McIntyre when he was too strong from close range in the 12^th minute. The Magpies hadn’t touched the ball again after that setback when Turner crossed from a smart shift after the forwards had worked upfield strongly. Lindon McGrady converted both tries.

A Locke penalty goal saw the Magpies go to the break at 14-12 ahead.

The Seagulls scored the next five tries though to run away with the match, going to a 40-14 lead in 71^st minute.

Whitfield barged over just two minutes after half-time after good lead-up work by Brent Woolf and Braden Robson.

Although the Magpies had more of the possession in the next 10 minutes, Tweed’s defended with confidence and purpose. Joe Vuna, the former Warriors hot prospect before missing the past two seasons while working as a Mormon missionary, was impressive on debut with his aggressive defence and he led the tempo for his side.

McIntyre scored his second try in the 48^th minute before Campbell, the whippet-shaped son of Dally M Medal winner Preston Campbell, scored a brilliant try reminiscent of his father. He identified that Magpies fullback Creedence Toia had made a tackle and no one was ‘at home’, saw a gap to kick through, regathered and crossed the line to essentially put the result behind doubt at 30-14 with McGrady’s conversion in the 60^th minute.

Just two minutes later Turner crossed for his second try after some good shape on the left edge before Farmer was rewarded for an impressive second-half effort. He returned the ball strongly from a line-drop out and backed it up two rucks later with a powerful bust through the defensive line.

The Magpies – who lost experienced halfback Albert Kelly before the match – scored two consolation tries in the last three minutes, to Jacob Elmore and Isaiah Tass, but they had been completely outplayed in the second half.

Hetherington was a strong performer in his 64 minutes on the field while fullback Toia and bench forward Rory Ferguson played well.

The 20-year-old Campbell, all 80kg of him, was a constant threat returning kicks and won the Seagulls’ players’ player award while Turner was close to their best on the field.

TWEED SEAGULLS 40 (S McIntyre 2, L Turner 2, J Whitbread, J Campbell, D Farmer tries; L McGrady 6 goals) def. SOUTHS LOGAN MAGPIES 24 (K Hetherington, C Paix, J Elmore, I Tass tries; K Locke 2, Tass 2  goals) at Tugun.