Half century sinks Seagulls
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Townsville & Districts Mendi Blackhawks notched up a half century of points on Easter Saturday in front of their home fans at Jack Manski Oval against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls.
In a match that saw the Mendi Blackhawks reach the 1000 point mark in the Intrust Super Cup, the home side were convincing winners 50-10 in the round 4 clash. The ten tries to two victory could have been even worse for Wynnum’s for and against had the Mendi Blackhawks not missed 50% of their conversions.
Tries came from both edges and through the middle as the Mendi Blackhawks had a field day against a Wynnum Manly side that managed to make their way up the field when in possession but failed to execute when it mattered.
The Mendi Blackhawks showed their intent to cross the line from the beginning scoring two tries in the first six minutes before Wynnum joined the party to take the score to 10-6 half way through the first half.
The Seagulls were never really in the match though and didn’t score another point until just two minutes before full time. The Mendi Blackhawks on the other hand took advantage of every opportunity that came their way and scored three tries in quick succession before half time to send them into the break leading 28-6.
Wynnum seemed to have no answer for the home side’s physicality and not only failed to match their enthusiasm but also compounded their own pain by producing a raft of errors in attack.
Halfback Michael Parker-Walshe and fullback Jahrome Hughes had the ball on a string during the match; setting up tries, breaking tackles, repeatedly troubling the defence and looking a class above their opposition.
The Mendi Blackhawks scored four tries to Wynnum’s one in the second stanza to take the final score to 50-10.
The home team’s left edge of Jonathon Reuben, Moses Pangai and Rhyse Martin again combined effectively to look dangerous whenever the ball swung their way and halfback Kyle Laybutt was strong despite a copping a head knock during the second half.
Debutant Lona Kaifoto had a solid game in the back row, along with other Mendi Blackhawks new recruits and interchange players, David Munro and Kieran Quabba, did plenty in defence and made their presence known in attack.
The Mendi Blackhawks are now the only unbeaten side in the 2016 competition.
Coach Kristian Woolf was pleased with his team’s “comprehensive” performance but what may concern the rest of the competition is that he believes the Mendi Blackhawks still have things to improve upon.
“The weekend’s game was probably our most complete performance so far this season and certainly gave a glimpse of what this team is capable of.”
“Our task over the next few weeks is to keep improving on this performance in what is going to be a very tough period of away games against some of the strongest opposition in the competition.” He said.
Photo Gallery courtesy of Alix Sweeney – © Alix Sweeney 2016
