QCUP Round 18: Ipswich Jets vs Souths Logan Magpies [Archive]

DIEHARD

08-08-11, 03:45 PM

Magpies Silence The Knockers

IT was only a little over a month ago that many pundits were predicting the demise of the Souths Logan Magpies as a top six contender.

With Canberra Raiders players of the calibre of David Milne, Trevor Thurling, Josh Miller and Daniel Vidot no longer available to wear the black and white, many thought the Magpies would slide down the ladder.

How wrong they were.

In a stunning resurgence, the Magpies have climbed into equal third spot on the back of their sixth straight Intrust Super Cup victory.

The latest of those victories – yesterday’s gutsy 26-20 come-from-behind win over the Ipswich Jets – has put the rest of the competition on notice.

The win has all but guaranteed the Magpies a spot in the 2011 finals series and the Davies Park club could yet finish as high as second.

Such a finish would give the Magpies a genuine chance of emulating the stunning feats of their 2008 premiership season.

Ironically, there are a lot of similarities between the team that won the ’08 grand final and this year’s tight-knit outfit.

In that year the Magpies finished the season without their star-studded Raiders contingent after their NRL affiliate club was rocked by a shocking injury toll.

But while the Magpies don’t currently have access to some of the higher profile Raiders players, a handful of them – including Travis Waddell and Mark Ioane – have been able to stay on with Souths Logan this year.

Waddell and Ioane were two of the stars in yesterday’s round 18 victory over the Jets at the North Ipswich Reserve.

Ipswich raced to a 16-6 half-time lead on the back of tries to Brendon Lindsay, Michael Fisher and Brendan Marshall.

The Jets had opportunities to score more points in that first half but a combination of wrong options and last ditch defence kept the Magpies in the contest.

A half-time blast from Magpies coach Mark Beaumont seemed to do the trick, with the visitors quickly stamping their authority early in the second half.

The Magpies attacked the home team’s left edge and were rewarded with three tries to lead 20-16 in a breathtaking turnaround.

With injured Ipswich prop Trevor Exton forced to watch from the bench, the Jets struggled to get out of their own half as the Magpies took control in the middle.

However, the Jets set up a grandstand finish with 10 minutes remaining when Donald Malone swooped on a grubber kick to score in the corner.

Lindsay missed the conversion, locking the score up at 20-all.

Souths then thwarted an Ipswich raid and went on the attack through a pressure releasing run from livewire winger Wes Conlon.

Big Magpies second-rower Mark Nicholls capped a strong game with a barnstorming try to seal the win in the 74th minute.

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