Brothers are one win away from a StoreLocal Hospital Cup Grand Final berth after overcoming GPS 23-18 in today’s minor semi-final at Sci-Fleet Stadium.
James O’Connor collected 18-points of his own as Brothers kept their season alive, the Reds flyhalf and prop Jaiden Christian crossing for the Brethren’s two tries.
Bernard Nickel stepped and jinked his way through the defence to open the scoring in the seventh minute, giving Jeeps an early 7-nil advantage at Sylvan Road.
The Brethren quickly evened the ledger, Christian forcing his way over from close range to lock the scores at 7-all in the 13th minute.
Momentum swung both ways for much of the first-half, with neither side able to break through for points before a Jason Hofmeyr penalty gave GPS a 10-7 advantage at the 30-minute mark.
O’Connor again locked the scores with a penalty of his own in the 36th minute, before giving the butcher’s stripes their first lead of the afternoon with a second three-pointer minutes later with Jeeps flyhalf Teti Tela yellow-carded in the same sequence.
The Gallopers defied their one-man disadvantage to continue to press the Brothers defensive line in the final minutes of the opening-forty, eventually seeing Harry Hoopert sin-binned for a no-arms tackle.
With time up on the opening-half, Jeeps locked the scores at 13-all with another Hofmeyr penalty.
Brothers had the first try of the second stanza, Wallaby duo James O’Connor and Harry Wilson linking up for a superb try. It was O’Connor who started the play, the number-10 sending Wilson through a hole with a deft short ball near the halfway line, before the bustling number-eight found his Reds teammate with a neat short ball to send him over the line. O’Connor converted his own try to give his side a a 20-13 lead with 30-minutes on the clock.
A third O’Connor penalty opened up a 23-13 lead for Brothers in the 60th minute, with GPS’ season slipping away at Sci-Fleet Stadium.
The Gallopers were able to rally with a Teti Tela try in the 75th minute, but it mattered little as Brothers held on in the final minutes for a 23-18 win.
The victory sees the Brethren qualify for the preliminary final and they will take on arch-rivals UQ in next Sunday’s preliminary final at Bond University.
