Both the Sunshine Coast Falcons and Easts Tigers suffered losses in Round 17 of the Intrust Super Cup.
Fast finishing Cutters halt Falcons
The Sunshine Coast Falcons returned to Intrust Super Cup action in Round 17, falling marginally short in a close encounter against the Mackay Cutters.
Storm forward Nelson Asofa-Solomona got the hosts off to a perfect start, crashing between three players to give the Falcons an early lead before the visitors hit back.
However, the visitors were quick to hit back with back-to-back tries before David Oakes helped the Falcons even up the contest once again.
A try from Jordan Pereira continued the back-and-forth nature of the game as both the Cutters and Falcons continued to take turns crossing the try line.
Storm listed duo Travis Robinson and Young Tonumaipea combined to score an important try for the Falcons in the second half, with Robinson providing the assist with a kick that fell into the hands of Tonumaipea.
The Cutters persistence in their attacking third ultimately paid off with the visitors scoring three consecutive tries to close out the win.
Mackay Cutters 32
Tries: Buchanan Rawhiti 2, Sam Clune, Jordan Pereira, Justin Tavae, Josh Chudleigh
Goals: Liam Taylor 4
Defeated.
Sunshine Coast Falcons 14
Tries: Young Tonumaipea, Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Sam Young
Goals: Ryan Hansen
at Sunshine Coast Stadium.
Teams
Sunshine Coast Falcons: 1. Sam Wright 2. Suliasi Vunivalu 3. Young Tonumaipea 4. Paul Ivan 5. Rowan Klein 6. Travis Robinson 7. David Oakes 19. Jon Platt 9. Billy Brittain 10. Ryan Hansen 11. Rueben Baillie 12. Jacob Samoa 18. Nelson Asofa-Solomona 14. Jay Lobwein 15. Johnny Vuetibau 16. Mboya Adams 20. Sam Young
Mackay Cutters: 1. Sam Clune 2. Jordan Pereira 3. Ben Jones 4. Justin Tavae 5. Buchanan Rawhiti 6. Cameron Cullen 7. Liam Taylor 8. Brad Lupi 9. Josh Chudleigh 18. Pulou Vaituutuu 11. Brenden Treston 12. Tyson Martin 13. Chris Gesch (c) 10. Ryan Kinlyside 15. Joss Boyton 16. Gavin Bennion 17. Steve Rapira
See Friday night football at AAMI Park when Storm host Penrith on July 17. Book tickets.
Pride break Tigers' winning streak
Easts Tigers' five match unbeaten streak was ended by the Northern Pride, who ousted the Tigers 24-12 at Barlow Park on the weekend.
The Pride opened the scoring through Keelan White, before Luke George secured the hosts a solid 10-0 lead going into half-time.
It didn’t get much better for the Tigers in the second half with Linc Port getting on the end of a Ryan Ghietti grubber kick to further extend on their dominant first half display.
The Tigers eventually hit back through Michael Kai, who scored his first of two tries for the night to save face for the visitors.
A comeback looked on the cards when Kai was the recipient of a converted try, giving the away side back-to-back tries with Storm playmaker Shaun Nona converting both his attempts on goal.
But in the end, it was the Pride who restored their lead through Justin Castellaro, who crashed over in the closing stages of the game to seal the win.
Northern Pride 24
Tries: Linc Port, Justin Castellaro, Luke George, Keelan White
Goals: Justin Castellaro 4
Defeated.
Easts Tigers 12
Tries: Michael Kai 2
Goals: Shaun Nona 2
At Barlow Park.
Teams
Northern Pride: 18. Semi Tadulala 2. Linc Port 3. Brett Anderson (c) 4. Justin Castellaro 5. Luke George 6. Ryan Ghietti 14. Sam Obst 20. Jack Svendsen 9. Jason Roos (c) 10. Sheldon Powe Hobbs 11. David Murphy 12. Graham Clark 13. Tom Hancock 15. PJ Webb 19. Cameron King 17. Brent Oosen 16. Keelan White
Easts Tigers: 1. Donald Malone 2. Maeli Seve 3. Whetu Austin 4. Michael Kai 18. Shane Neumann 6. Shaun Nona 19. Brentt Warr 8. Foisa Peni 9. Tommy Butterfield 10. Liam McDonald 11. Dane Hogan (c) 12. Jake Foster 13. Troy Giess 14. Francis Tualau 15. Matthew Zgrajewski 16. Brenton Horwood 17. Billy Walters
