TENTERFIELD Tigers suffered a disappointing loss at the hands of rivals Inglewood in the first major semi-final clash in the Border Rugby League competition on Saturday.
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Plenty of points were scored in the clash and Inglewood secured the victory over this year’s minor premiers with a try on the siren.
“It was 28-26 with a minute to go and they scored on the hooter,” coach Chris Battersby said.
“All the boys are disappointed.
“It is not ideal but we have to do it the hard way now.
“It means winning this weekend and then going out there and trying to beat them out there which will be tough.”
The side rue the missed opportunities and will be looking to fix up the errors which limited their chances of scoring on the weekend.
Battersby said his side were frustrated at losing the opportunity to host the grand final and face an uphill battle to secure the spot to come up against Inglewood again in two weeks.
“Our last pass options and last tackle options let us down,” he said.
“We made a few breaks and we had a last pass go to ground, we knocked it on or something like that.
“We didn’t build any pressure on their line.
“We were pretty poor with our end of our sets of six.”
Although the side went down 34-26, Battersby said a number of players stepped up and lit up the field with their performances.
“Coedie Tandy had a blinder for us,” he said.
“He was awarded man of the match and players player.
“In the forwards Murray Johnson was outstanding.
“He made a couple of breaks which could have led to tries.”
The Tigers host Stanthorpe/ Texas this weekend who will be seeking redemption after the Tenterfield side beat them 106 points to 10 in round 18.
Battersby said his team will have to match the visitors through the middle of the field to be in with a chance of making the decider.
“They will be a different team this week,” he said.
“They were missing a few players last time.
“They are a pretty big side so they will probably take us on up the middle and we just have to control their big fellas again.
“We had trouble with that on the weekend.
“They will be hard to beat for sure, it is a semi-final so who knows what is going to happen.”
The game commences at 2.30pm.
