Tweed take two points from Pride in trip north

The Campbell Construction Co. Tweed Seagulls made the trip to Cairns and left with the two competition points following their 24-18 win over the Northern Pride.

A Tweed forward pass on the first set of the game provided the Pride with the first opportunity to attack.

Having solved an early shift on their right edge, the Seagulls left edge couldn’t keep Brendan Frei from crashing over.

Some silky footwork from Julian Christian scrambled the line before Frei found just enough space to force the ball down.

Sam Lisone helped Tweed into the game with two efforts without the ball translating into points shortly after. His line speed in defence stopped the Pride’s path up the field out of yardage before his pressure on the kicker resulted in the kick going out on the full.

Having spent the majority of the opening exchanges inside their own half, Tweed could spend some time with the ball on attack.

Presented with a scrum 20 metres from their line and in the middle of the field, Tweed executed on a left shift for Scott Galeano to cross the line.

Like last week, the Seagulls used Josh Patston’s backrow experience to create the space out wide.

His line to Bernard Lewis’ inside shoulder dragged the Pride centre in as Will Brimson swept around the back to send Galeano over.

Tweed started to take control of the game. A 40/20 won field position and allowed the visitors to play on the front foot.

However, Treymain Spry being sent to the naughty chair for dissent soon saw the Pride retake the lead. Going straight to the spot Spry would have been filling on the right edge, Will Partridge made it 12-6 in the 24th minute.

Galeano went close at answering right back, but couldn’t keep hold of the ball as he leapt towards the corner post. That kept the score at 12-6 through to halftime where the Pride will perhaps have felt as though they left a try or two out there in the first 40 minutes.

Paul Turner and Jamayne Isaako linked up well throughout the first half. A sweeping Turner looked for Isaako out wide and found him effectively in yardage.

That combination opened the scoring in the second half. However, this time, Turner found Isaako with his boot to level the scores at 12-12.

A moment of Brimson brilliance soon gave Tweed the lead. Looking to make up for his error in the previous set, Lewis jammed in as the Seagulls shifted the ball.

However, he couldn’t stick to the tackle and Brimson spun out of the contact and down the sideline. His looping pass back in-field found Galeano for his second and the visitors put themselves in front for the first time in the 55th minute.

A Reece Summer offload to ground and into the hands of the opposition in the set after points put Tweed under pressure. So too did Collins’ second effort in the tackle resulting in a penalty and Craig Garvey’s forward pass.

Still, the Seagulls defensive line propelled every attacking raid and frustrated the Pride into having another player sent to the bin for dissent in this one. Evan Child was marched this time, and from there, the Seagulls took control.

An early Turner kick in behind earned a forced dropout. Lindon McGrady and Brimson used the extra set on the line to put Tweed 12 points ahead.

A long shift to the left edge through Collins in the middle compressed a 12-man defensive line leaving Galeano alone on the left wing.

Similar to Turner’s kick through to Isaako earlier, Brimson dribbled one into the space down the left edge for Galeano to regather and claim his third of the night.

Not long after Child re-entered the field after his spell in the bin, Lisone replaced him after the officials ruled he threw a punch.

The three minutes against 12 men wasn’t enough for the Pride, though.

Partridge scored his second in the corner, but the siren sounded as he kicked the conversion from the sideline for the Seagulls to claim an important 24-18 win.

Coach’s comments

Defence has been a focus for Tweed all year and the line held up well despite conceding early.

“For the most part we defended well. Had a slip-up early but their other two tries were hard to defend, particularly a player down,” Seagulls coach, Ben Woolf said.

Having been forced into using six different fullbacks this season, Turner’s availability in the #1 jersey helped this week.

“We’ve had a heap of different spine combinations and fullback, in particular, has been a spot we haven’t had consistency. Paul is our first choice fullback. He organised well and is a constant threat with the ball.”

Tweed have two games left to play in the regular season and are well-positioned to play finals footy. Still, the focus is on playing well over the next fortnight.

“We are building well and the focus over the next two weeks will be consistency over the 80 minutes,” Woolf said.

Next week, the Seagulls will play Townsville Blackhawks.