St. Joseph’s College, Gregory Terrace have kept their premiership chances alive with a gutsy 20-17 win over The Southport School on the Gold Coast last weekend.
In perfect conditions on the Village Green oval, it was the visitors who came away with the scalp over the previously unbeaten Southport, snatching victory in the dying seconds of the match via the boot of scrumhalf Sam Kirk.
It was Kirk’s kicking game that kept Terrace on the front foot throughout the contest, as his side notched its first win over Southport in more than a decade.
Terrace came out of the blocks flying, with an early try to Bailey Ralston.
The inside centre was the beneficiary of a deft short ball by Hoani Ford-Stevens, before grubbering through and re-gathering to dive over. Kirk’s conversion was good, as the visitors led 7-5 after five minutes.
It only took two minutes for the home side to hit back, with winger Koen Dovey opening his side’s account.
Great work by the Southport pack marched the ball up field, before some quick hands and great stepping by Dovey put the winger over just wide of the posts.
John Nucifora slotted the easy conversion, tying the game up at 7-7.
Spurred on by the home crowd, TSS kept the scoreboard ticking over with a penalty to Nucifora.
The successful kick saw TSS take the lead 10-7.In the 21st minute, the home side gave away consecutive penalties in midfield, allowing Kirk to even up the scores off his boot 10-10.
Poor discipline with the ball in hand cost Southport, as their infringements were keeping Terrace very much in the contest.
A few minutes from the half, Terrace made the most of a rare trip into Southport’s territory scoring through Australian Schoolboys Winger Will Eadie.
Off the back of a scrum, fullback Byron Ralston streaked clear, before a slick cut out pass by Isaac Lucas put Eadie over.
With the Terrace army right behind him, Kirk slotted the sideline conversion, taking Terrace into the break with a 17-10 lead.
Southport began the second half with a clear plan, use their size in the forwards to group the Terrace line, before spreading the ball wide.
However, the boot of Isaac Lucas and some exceptional pilfers by Number 8, Harry Webster negated all of Southport’s opportunities, keeping the tempo of the game with the visitors.
In the 56th minute, the home side lost scrumhalf Ted Stuart to the sin bin, after a late hit on his opposite number.
The loss of a player seemed to fire the home side up, as they began playing the premiership contending Rugby Southport are known for.
It was evident Terrace were tiring, the Red and Black were emptying the tank in defence, desperate to keep Southport out.
However, five minutes from full time Dovey was in for his second try, going blindside off a scrum to score in the corner.
With the score at 15-17, Nucifora’s sideline conversion would tie the game up.
The cool-headed flyhalf slotted the kick, not deterred by the wailing Terrace fans behind him, sending the home crowd hysterical.
The scores were locked at 17-17 with three minutes to play.It seemed certain that the 14 men of TSS were to score again, as from the restart the home side marched down field, edging closer and closer to the try line.
Inches from the chalk, a pass went blindside for a what should have been a certain try, but sloppy handling turned possession over and gifted Terrace one last shot at attacking.
Kirk, who was awarded man of the match honours, found touch off a penalty with just seconds on the clock and orchestrated his forwards to pick and drive.
Slowly, Terrace held the ball and sucked in Southport’s defence, and were awarded a penalty right in front of the sticks.
Kirk made no mistake, sending the ball through the middle and capping off a memorable win for his side, 20-17.
Gregory Terrace Head Coach Ben McCormack said after the game:
“TSS pressured us into a lot of mistakes and errors around the park, but when you get into a dogfight like it was at the end, you’ve just got to keep fighting for a result and we did, so I’m very happy.
“It was a fantastic effort from all of the boys, we were down and out there with five or 10 minutes to go, so to come back and win was very exciting.
“As long as we keep chipping away and get these wins, it will put us in a good position for the final rounds of the competition.”
St Joseph’s Gregory Terrace 20 (W Eadie 1, B Ralston 1, S Kirk 2 conversions, 2 penalties) def The Southport School 17 (K Dovey 2, J Nucifora 2 conversions, 1 penalty)
Brisbane State High School 31 (M Taulagi 3, R Levi 1, J Petaia 1, M Taulagi 3 conversions ) def Anglican Church Grammar School 12 (F Suffren 1, H Lennon 1, D Munro 1 conversion)
Brisbane Boys College 30 (F Mounsey 2, L Foux 1, S Stone 1, T Raoren 2 conversions, 2 penalties) def Toowoomba Grammar School 29 ( H Leerenveltd 2, M Faessler 1, A Watson 1, K Oates 3 conversions, 1 penalty)
