A BRACE of tries each from Nathan Giles and Ronald Francis inspired Town to a 28-18 win over Black Stars in round six of the Lewie Fire Mount Isa Rugby League Premiership.
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Town produced a strong first-half performance at Alec Inch Oval before leaping Normanton Stingers to take second place on the ladder after its 10-point victory.
Black Stars had the first opportunity to gain field position but a penalty punt kick failed to make touch, ultimately returning ball possession to Town, who made its opponents pay.
Town hooker Giles set the tone for his side in the next set and crossed over the line in the sixth minute after a destructive run from teammate Francis.
For 20 minutes, the game was held in the balance with Black Stars defending valiantly before Town five-eighth Jamie Hull broke the deadlock by latching on to an overlap on the right-hand side of the field.
Two minutes later, Hull created a line-break and beat three different players before offloading to Francis, who regathered his own grubber kick to make it 16-0.
Black Stars had another opportunity to put its first points on the board five minutes before half-time, but it was wasteful after Town knocked the ball on 10 metres out from its own try line.
Almost immediately after the interval, Town extended its lead following a beautifully worked chip and chase by halfback Marty Poulson, which lead to Giles’ second try.
But a knock-on by Town from the corresponding kick-off allowed Black Stars back into the game with fullback Louis Mothe crossing over the white line from close range for a four-pointer.
Town responded straight after with Giles running the ball up down the left wing before offloading to his outside man Joshua Isaacson to make it 24-6.
A second try from Francis helped his team to its biggest lead of the game before Town conceded two late tries from Black Stars front-rowers Andrew Caulton and Tyrone Ahone.
Town captain Tyler Donald was pleased with the end result, but said his side essentially played a game of two halves.
“The first half was probably better than the second,” Donald said.
“It was pretty scrappy on our behalf. The game plan was just to keep it simple. As soon as we start throwing it around, we start losing the ball but as soon as we keep it simple we score.”
Black Stars coach Jacob Takurit thought the better team won on the night while highlighting a couple of areas in need of improvement.
“We just lack a bit of experience and need a bit more patience,” Takurit said.
“It was a bit loose in the middle out there. Our first set of the game was our best but unfortunately we just went down from there. We lost a bit of size up front this week too.”
In Normanton on Saturday afternoon, Wanderers stretched its lead at the top of the ladder to two points with a hard-fought 30-6 win over the Stingers.
On Friday night, a hat-trick of tries from fullback Dylan Johnny helped Cloncurry Eagles get back to winning ways with a 24-16 win over Brothers at Alec Inch Oval.
LADDER
Wanderers 11
Town 9
Normanton 8
Cloncurry 6
Black Stars 2
Brothers 0
