By GRAEME LAWRENCE, CUDGEN HORNETS FOOTBALL MANAGER
The Tugun Seahawks maintained their momentum in the Gold Coast Tweed Bycroft Cup competition on Sunday by defeating a tenacious Cudgen Hornets outfit 36-18 at their Boyd Street Tugun ground.
While the Seahawks didn’t have things all their own way, they appeared to have the upper hand over the young Hornets outfit throughout most of the match.
A big, robust pack ensured that it was a tough, physical clash and while the Hornets forwards didn’t shirk their workload, the more experienced Seahawks continually poked their noses through the Hornets’ advantage line.
Once again, hooker Myles Donnelly (players’ player and two tries) worked himself to a standstill. He was ably supported by fellow prop forwards Jacob Orr, Jackson Stanford and veteran Steve Kirkham. Out-wide fullback Shannon Green, teenage centre Zac Spring and the evergreen Matt Petersen constantly probed for any weaknesses in the Seahawks defence.
In a spiteful Reggies match, the Hornets were too strong and out-played their Seahawk opponents 20-16 with sin-bins and send-offs the order of the day.
Matt Slattery (players’ player) and Dan Donovan provided the muscle up front while out wide Josh Sleba (two tries) and fellow centre Ryan King provided the class.
The Reggies are now four wins from five games and playing great footy for rookie coach Tom Prichard.
However, they are awaiting the results of scans for a possible fractured jaw to popular team-mate Kane Stannard.
The under-19 match was one that was riddled with handling errors by both sides but more so by the Hornets who, with nine players missing, went down by 28-16.
In a game that coach Graeme O’Grady would want to try and forget in a hurry, no-one tried harder than Nick Clark, Kirk Murphy, Jack Thornton and Jacob Spargo.
This Sunday sees the Hornets clash with near neighbours the Bilambil Jets at Ned Byrne Field, with proceedings kicking off at noon with the under-19 encounter.
The following weekend is the annual South East Queensland Divisional Championships being played at Ned Byrne Field.
The areas represented are Brisbane, Ipswich and the Gold Coast The matches are to be contested in the under-20s and open grades.
The Cudgen Hornets will be represented by Jake Sands, Zac Spring and Jayden Johnson in the under-20s.
On Friday night the Gold Coast play Brisbane with games kicking off at 5.30pm and 6.45pm, while on Saturday Brisbane does battle with Ipswich at 2.30pm and 4pm and on Sunday the Gold Coast sides play Ipswich at 1pm and 2.30pm. Promises to be some great footy played. There are no local games that weekend.
