Seagulls notch thrilling win over Easts

Seagulls notch thrilling win over Easts

A try to co-captain Matt King in the dying stages helped Titans feeder club, the Tweed Heads Seagulls to a thrilling victory over Easts Tigers in an absorbing Intrust Super Cup match at Piggabeen Oval on Sunday.

Easts looked like they would hang on to a slim victory when Tweed winger Brad Less was dragged into touch just inches of the try line, but with only minutes remaining hooker King kicked and regathered a smart grubber to give the Tweed an unlikely lead.

The match was not over yet however, as an Easts penalty for a Seagulls head high after the hooter gave them one last chance at victory, however Tweed were able to hang on desperately to leapfrog the Tigers into the five.

Seagulls coach Aaron Zimmerle was thrilled with his side’s performance.

“We managed to keep the game close, at half-time we said we wanted to grind the match out and be prepared to win in the last five minutes and the guys were able to do that” said Zimmerle.

“We aren’t the most glamorous side, but the team believes in themselves and they were able to show that out there with a good win today.”

With both sides hovering around the edges of the top five it was Easts who were out of the blocks early, with speedster Maeli Seve scoring out wide in just the third minute.

Tweed would cross the Tigers line soon after, however the ball was found to be forward by match officials.

With the match developing into a tense arm wrestle, the Tigers opted to take the two points from a penalty kick at close range to give themselves a 6-nil buffer, before a scrappy try to Tweed centre Corey Blair had the Tweed on the scoreboard at the 25min mark.

Easts hit back almost immediately with Melbourne Storm powerhouse Mahe
Fanua crashing over in the corner, before Seagulls try scoring machine James Wood scored a try of his own to have the Tweed trailing 10-8 at the break.

The second half would develop into a tight and torrid affair, with a number of skirmishes breaking out as time began to tick away without score.

Tweed Heads 14 (Tries: Wood, Blair, King Goals: Lee)
Easts 10 (Tries: Seve, Fonua Goals: Wallace)

http://www.titans.com.au/news-display/titans/79924