It was a tough afternoon for the BMD Wynnum Manly Seagulls as they hosted the PNG Hunters in Round 10.
Always a physical battle between the two, the boys from PNG ran hard and tackled harder in an effort to replicate last season’s upset win over the Seagulls.
Wynnum Manly started the better of the two teams, with Delouise Hoeter and Kyle Foxwell scoring inside the first 20 minutes.
Player of the Match Matt Milson, and Tyson Smoothy crossed before halftime to give the Seagulls a 22-0 lead going into the break.
Five-eighth Josh Rogers scored 5 minutes into the second half to extend the lead to 28-0.
Wynnum Manly were cruising at this point in front of a good Saturday afternoon home crowd.
However, two tries from the Hunters in the 51st and 57th minutes brought the game back to life.
PNG maintained their momentum and scored three more times in the final 15 minutes.
Goalkicking was the difference in the end, with the final score 28-24 to the Seagulls.
It was a disappointing finish for the Bayside boys considering how well they played in the first half. However, we did enough to get the two points, which was important in such a physically demanding game.
A special mention to John Radel who made his debut for the Hostplus Cup team. John is captain of our Hastings Deering Colts and has been in the Seagulls system for 3 years, including the Mal Meninga U18s.
Thank you to our Premier Partner, George Hartnett Metropolitan Funerals, who presented our Round 10 gameday and gave away prizes to three Seagulls fans at halftime.
Now we head on a 4-match away run, including Tweed, Townsville, Mackay and Toowoomba. Our Colts and Hostplus Cup teams will play at 12pm and 2pm respectively on Saturday at Tweed Seagulls.
Our next home game at BMD Kougari Oval will be on Sunday 25 June against the Redcliffe Dolphins.