Hunters flop

 THE Papua New Guinea Hunters slumped to back-to-back losses on the road when they were beaten by the Wynnum Manly Seagulls 36-18 at the BDM Kougari Oval in Brisbane yesterday.   

The Seagulls dominated possession in both halves, leaving Michael Marum’s men little room to mount a comeback. 

The first quarter of the game saw the Seagulls scoring two tries to hit the lead after some poor defence from the Hunters in their 20m area for a 10-0 lead.  

The Hunters did well to fight back with a short pass from second rower Brandy Peter sending prop Esau Siune over under the uprights to trail 10-6.  

Just before half time, a grubber by Wynnum halfback Matthew Seamark from inside the Hunters 10m line found John Te Reo diving over for a well-taken four-pointer for the home side to take a 16-6 lead at halftime. 

With the wind behind them in the second 40, the Seagulls played a tight and ground away at the Hunters, who were both erratic and unstructured at times.

Olsi Krasniqi, the only Albanian player in the competition ,scored in the 42nd minute from a set play and five minutes later fullback Daniel Ogden latched on to an inside pass from Seamark to extend the lead to 28-6.

Hunters gave away penalties and made too many handling errors to threaten the opposition and in the 64th minute that poor form was further punished with winger Greg Eden scoring the Gulls last try in the corner.  

With only 15 minutes remaining on the clock, the Hunters needed a miracle to come back, and after some poor defence from the Seagulls, Brandy Peter crossed to get his side to double figures at 38-12.

Two minutes later, Hunters captain Israel Eliab scored a runaway try off a brilliant pass from Ase Boas to narrow the gap to 34-18. 

The match became an arm-wrestle as the Hunters pushed for another try, while the Seagulls were content to contain their foes.

Seamark slotted a penalty in the 72nd minute to put his side three converted tries in front at 36-18 and this proved the coup de grace for Marum’s side.

Match Summary: Wynnum Manly Seagulls 36 (Mitchell Frei , Alehana Mara, John Te Reo , Olsi Krasniqi, Daniel Ogden, Greg Eden tries; Matt Seamark 6 goals) PNG Hunters 18 (Esau Siune, Brandy Peter, Israel Eliab tries; Noel Zeming 3 goals).