Hunters settle for draw

THE SP Hunters and Townsville Blackhawks fought an entertaining contest in round 18 of Queensland’s Hostplus Cup, with both sides settling for a 23-23 draw at Bycroft Oval, Gold Coast, on Saturday.
It was only a clever short pass from dummy-half on the Hunters’ line that eventually cracked the home side when Kulikefu Finefeuiaki crashed over 10 minutes in.
Townsville went back-to-back when Tom Chester crossed not long afterwards, latching onto a pin-point attacking kick that came down right next to the posts.
The Hunters responded quickly, marching up-field on the back of a Blackhawks penalty and into position for their first shot at Townsville’s line.
A slick left-side shift ended with centre Benji Kot who punished the sliding defence with a big left foot step to score the Hunters’ first points.
Townsville’s lead was quickly restored to 10 when Chester crossed for his second just minutes later.
A clever shift late in the count caught out the Hunters’ edge defence who had dropped back for the kick, and Chester was the beneficiary with some nice support play netting him an early double.
A long shift to the left through Judah Rimbu and Kitron Laka again found Kot in some space and again he took his opportunity.
Sizing up his opposite man, Kot put on some footwork to draw in the opposing winger before a superb offload found Solo Wane untouched in the corner.
As a result, the Blackhawks took a 16-12 lead into the break.
An excellent yardage kick from Kingstimer Paraia pinned the Blackhawks in their own corner and the defensive pressure the hosts applied quickly forced an error. With their next possession, the Hunters compressed the middle, thanks to Wesser Tenza’s work from dummy-half, before setting up for another shift to the left.
Strike centre Kot again appeared to be the target, but Rimbu played with nice variation to drop Laka back underneath, who crashed through the defence to score.
Riding the momentum and having found a winning formula, the Hunters again searched left in good ball with a smooth backline shift this time that ended with Kot sliding over for his second.
The visitors searched left with some nice shape through five-eighth Jake Bourke and Chester that threatened to break the line.
With the scores locked at 22-22, the stakes were high as the game entered the final 10 minutes.
Both sides scrapped and fought for yardage as the clock wound down and with less than three minutes left it was Bourke who kicked a field goal before Paraia responded with another to force a draw.
Head coach Matthew Church said he was delighted with his side’s response after a disappointing showing against Sunshine Coast.
“It was really pleasing to see us respond after last week and improve in key areas,” he said at fulltime.
“Our kicking game was much better and it allowed us to build pressure and create scoring opportunities.”
Church paid tribute to the Hunters’ resilience and execution under pressure.
“To execute that set at the end there and draw the game with our only attempt was really pleasing,” he said.
“Although we haven’t been as consistent as we’d like this season, that field goal is a good example of how far we’ve come as a playing group this year,” he said after the match on Saturday.
Results: Sat, Aug 13 – Hunters 23 Blackhawks 23, Tigers 20 Falcons 24, Jets 26 Wynnum Manly 18; Sun, Aug 14 – Cutters 38 Bears 34, Capras 10 Devils 17, Magpies 22 Dolphins 34.