The Seagulls travelled to Langlands Park on Sunday afternoon to take on the Brisbane Tigers in the local derby. Two powerhouses of the Hostplus Cup met at 3pm on a hot and humid day after a number of other clashes between the two clubs across multiple grades.
Wynnum Manly scored off their first set of the game after a Tigers error, with Matt Milson scooping up the ball and crossing the tryline.
Josh Simm was in next for the Gulls in the 9th minute after a slick in-and-away move to beat the Tigers winger 1-on-1.
The Tigers hit back in the 20th minute, before ex-Tiger Darius Farmer finished off a Tony Pellow half-break to crash over the line.
A Josh Rogers penalty sent the Seagulls to the break in front 18-4.
A couple of quick tries after halftime saw the Tigers get to within 2 points, as the momentum had completely swung their way.
Wynnum Manly were struggling to hold onto the ball, and were on the wrong end of a high penalty count, but managed to reinstall their lead in the 52nd minute when Matt Milson sliced through from a scrum play 30m out and scored untouched.
The tit-for-tat scoring continued as the Tigers went over in the 64th minute. Then Bailey Hartwig crashed over from another Tony Pellow try assist to extend the Seagulls lead again.
Finally, the Tigers scored in the 70th minute to bring the score to 28-26 to the Seagulls with 10 minutes remaining.
After a tense final 10 minutes, the Seagulls held for a courageous win after receiving a number of injuries during the game.
Bartons’ Player of the Match went to Matt Milson who scored 2 tries, ran 14 times for 135m, had a try assist and 5 tackle breaks. There were notable performances from Tony Pellow with 3 try assists, Tyson Smoothy with 41 tackles, and Kitron Laka with 50m post contact and 5 tackle breaks.
Iona College will host the Gulls next home game on Saturday 25 March against the Ipswich Jets.