Olam gets hat-trick in Falcons’ win over ’Gulls

PAPUA New Guinea Kumuls flyer Justin Olam scored a hat-trick to help the Sunshine Coast Falcons to a 36-0 victory over the Tweed Head Seagulls at Piggabeen Sports Complex on Sunday.
A six-try first-half blitz by an almost faultless Falcons set up their 13th straight victory as the Seagulls, coming off five successive victories, could not keep pace with defensive line speed, aggressive tackling and precision in their attack that earned Sunshine Coast a 30-0 halftime lead.
After going head-to-toe with the Queensland Intrust Super Cup competition leaders in the first few minutes, the Seagulls gave their rivals too much cheap possession through errors and penalties and were never able to recover from the momentum it gave the Falcons.
The Seagulls squandered attacking position through rushed or ill-directed passes in the first 20 minutes while the Falcons were slick in converting their opportunities.
The result was that, within half an hour, the game had been taken away from the home side.
While Seagulls coach Ben Woolf would have been happy with the much-improved defensive effort in the second half, his Falcons rival Eric Smith would have rued the change in efficiency of his side.
They turned the ball over five times in the first 20 minutes of the second session, but Tweed were not able to mount enough pressure to take advantage.
The only score of the second half came in the 66th minute when Siti Moceidreke crossed for a converted try from a brilliant kick-return counter-attack by fullback Nathan McGavin; a controversial try with the Seagulls officials on the bench remonstrating that Moceidreke’s boot had crossed the touchline.
The Falcons’ 13-straight wins to start the season equals the Intrust Super Cup record held by, ironically, Tweed Heads in 2011.
The Falcons will face Wynnum Manly Seagulls in round 14.
– QRL