THE Tenterfield Tigers put on a nail-biter on Saturday but walked away with a win and a place in the Border Rugby League grand final which will be held in Tenterfield in two weeks’ time.
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The Tigers continued their competition dominance against the Stanthorpe Gremlins in the major semi-final at Rugby League Park on Saturday.
It took 20 minutes of extra time for the home side to seal the 14 – 10 win.
“At this stage last year we were knocked out on golden point so it’s good to get the win this time,” captain/coach Brendan Minns said.
It was an even tussle throughout regulation time, but mistakes from both sides kept the game to a small points tally.
“We dropped too much pill and were forced to defend a lot of repeat sets – we were good enough to hold them out though."
- Tenterfield Tigers captain/coach, Brendan Minns
Key player, Lucas Dearden, limped off for the Tigers in the first half as they went into the break with a 10 – 4 lead.
“There were about three tries that should have been, would have been, could have been,” Minns said.
The captain/coach had an opportunity to win the game on the hooter from a penalty kick but was unable to convert the two points.
Wesley Doo crossed for the Tigers in the first 10 minutes of extra time to give the Tigers a 14 – 10 lead going into the final minutes.
A resilient defensive display kept the Gremlins at bay and forced them into a preliminary final next weekend.
The Gremlins will play Killarney who were too strong for Texas winning 16 – 10.
Killarney will welcome their own captain/coach John Trindall back from suspension for the game.
Minns said he was hoping to get an equally vocal and supportive crowd up to the ground for the grand final on September 6.
“The atmosphere in the last half an hour was awesome – it was unreal how vocal the crowd was.
“We’ll keep safe now, train hard and work on a few little things,” Minns said.
In the girls game the Tigers were too good yet again for the Texas league tag side and booked their place in the grand final.
A few nerves crept in during the first half but coach Wayne Minns said he was happy with their second half performance and the 26 – 12 win.
“The semi-final is a whole different game – we turned it around in the second half and played really well,” he said.
“They got a bit of a reality check but we are happy to get through and we’ll keep our minds on the job we have,” Minns said.
Brendan Minns said the club will now give away four free passes to the grand final to the business who best dresses up their shop in black and gold in support of the club.
