BLACK Stars finally earned their first win of the season defeating Brothers 42-34 in round four of the Lewie Fire Premiership on Saturday.
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In a battle of the Mount Isa Rugby League underdogs, Brothers took control of the game early on with tries to Willis Walden, Andrew Walden and a brace from newcomer Cadence Maden.
But tries to Tim Daniels, JP Viiga, Herbert Walden and Brandon McElligott helped Black Stars get back right in the contest and take the lead before half time.
It was mid-way in the second half when the match was at its finest for the neutral spectator with both sides scoring points at will end-to-end.
In the 54th minute, Black Stars halfback Dion Gee Gee threw a spectacular dummy pass to run right under the posts to make it 32-20 in favour of his team.
Almost instantly after, Brothers replied through a well-worked try from Nathan Struham to keep the tie in the balance.
A second try from Gee Gee off a returning set of six tackles all but put the score out of reach for Brothers until a try from veteran Kevin Richards made it 32-28, the closest gap the scores had seen all game.
Black Stars cemented the two competition points when Gee Gee took his second in a brace of tries followed by lock Cody Tully, who ran from dummy-half to score right next to the posts.
Brothers player Andrew Walden, who was sinbinned in the 35th minute, had the last laugh of the thrilling match-up scoring his second try of the game moments before full time.
Black Stars coach Jacob Takurit praised his team’s completion rate which played a big role in the 8-point victory.
“We completed our sets, got to our kicks and had a couple of key players coming back,” Takurit said.
Takurit was happy to see the return of senior player Viiga, but his younger players also caught the attention of the Black Stars coach.
“Viiga had a solid game up the middle there. Dion Gee Gee at halfback too. He was just good in general with his kicking and taking on the line. But all our young players are improving week after week so there are good signs there. We will try and improve on that next week against Wanderers.”
Brothers assistant coach Sam Retchford said there were many positives to look at despite his team’s fourth loss of the season.
“We had our forwards rolling,” Retchford said.
“The boys are starting to talk a bit more and getting the commitment of running in there.”
Retchford was particularly impressed with new second-rower Cadence Maden, who made the move from Brisbane recently.
“He was leading the row. We have still got a bit of structure to work out in the backline and fullback positions. But there was a lot of improvement on the kicking, which was one of the things we have been working on.”
Earlier in the round, competition front-runners Wanderers Devils came away from Cloncurry with a 56-24 win against the Eagles on Saturday afternoon.
In Normanton, the Stingers maintained their perfect home record with a 22-16 win over Town in what was a close call, according to Stingers coach Sorren Owens.
“It was a tight one,” Owens said.
“Our forward pack led the way with Craig Logan at the front. Kurtis Richie was good too but I thought our bench players really made the difference.”
In women’s League Tag, Town took down the All Stars 22-12 on Saturday night at Alec Inch Oval.
BLACK STARS 42
Herbert Walden – 1 try, 2 goals
Deon Gee Gee – 2 tries, 2 goals
Darren Walden – 1 goal
Brandon McElligot – 1 try
Cody Tully – 2 tries
Tim Daniels – 1 try
JP Viiga – 1 try
BROTHERS 34
Willis Walden – 1 try, 2 goals
Shane Dempsey – 1 goal
Kevin Richards – 1 try
Andrew Walden – 2 tries
Cadence Maden – 2 tries
Nathan Struham – 1 try
OTHER RESULTS
Normanton Stingers 22
Town 16
Cloncurry Eagles 24
Wanderers 66
LEWIE FIRE MIRL PREMIERSHIP ROUND 4 RESULTS
Cloncurry 24-56 Wanderers
Normanton Stingers 22-16 Town
Black Stars 42-34 Brothers
LADDER
Wanderers 7
Normanton 6
Townies 5
Cloncurry 4
Black Stars 2
Brothers 0