The margin would have been wider but the Black Stars secured several tries against the overconfident Townies side shortly before the final siren. 

The final score was 74-20. 

19 minutes into the game the score began to widen from 6-6 with the Townies’ next try. Within 20 minutes and by half time the score was 40-6. 

Townies captain Allan Heldsinger said his team sealed the game early but had lapsed off near the end. “We’ve got to be better than that,” he said. 

“It’s always hard when the score line is 74-20 to stay switched on for 80 minutes so you kind of can’t let it get to you. 

“It’s still not good to see them put tries on us but we have got to stay positive about it.” 

Heldsinger was proud of the support play in his team. He said it was the best he had seen all season. 

Townies were positive coming into the game having recently beaten Black Stars. “We knew they would turn up, especially in the second half, but we were positive we would come away with a win if we did all our things right,” the captain said. 

Townies are next set to play Cloncurry Eagles, who fell to the Normanton Stingers 38-22 on the weekend. Heldsinger was positive about taking on Eagles to determine who played the grand final against Stingers.