WHILE the Queensland Women’s team were playing hard for their amazing 16th straight victory over New South Wales, the Brisbane and District Women’s competition had a week off. However, not all the teams had a break.
This past Saturday (July 19), the teams from both Divisions had the option to compete in the Beerwah 9’s tournament for prize money, trophies and a fun-filled day. Five teams opted to participate: Beerwah Bulldogs, Burleigh Bears, Aspley Devils, Wynnum Seagulls and Beerwah Stingrays.
The faster game of nine’s was a great opportunity for teams to showcase their speed, fitness and agility.
Aspley and Wynnum kicked off the first game of the tournament. Aspley got the win; with a score of 24-12 against a much respected Wynnum team, who were the only Division 2 team to compete in the day.
Wynnum then had to take the field again, this time against the Beerwah Stingrays; Beerwah’s second team. Considering Wynnum had to play back to back games, they fought hard and brave, losing to the Stingray’s, 22-0.
Burleigh and Beerwah Bulldogs were up next, a tough and well matched game, with the Bulldogs taking out the win, 16-6.
Aspley and the Beerwah Stingrays came head to head next, both on a win each, both wanting their second win. This game was the closest result in the pool games, with the Stingrays just gaining the 2 points with a score of 12-10.
The remainder of the pool games saw Burleigh defeat Wynnum 18-0, Beerwah Bulldogs defeat Aspley 26-8 and Burleigh defeat Beerwah Stingrays 14-6.
After all the pool games, Beerwah Bulldogs sat on top of the points board, giving them the pass straight to the grand final.
The first final of the day was the elimination final, which saw Aspley defeat Wynnum to go into the Plate final. Wynnum left Beerwah that night with a lot of respect from all of the Division 1 teams, they showed great talent and outstanding sportsmanship.
The next final was Burleigh v Beerwah Stingrays, the winner would take on the Bulldogs in the Cup Final, the loser would take on Aspley in the Plate final. This game would be match of the day!
The quality of play was outstanding, both Burleigh and the Stingrays gave it their all in the 18 minutes of game time. With only a few seconds to go, a trailing Stingrays side created a double kick chase to score under the posts to push in front and win the match against Burleigh, 18-16. Both Beerwah teams would compete in the grand final.
The Plate final saw Aspley take on Burleigh, this game was a very fun filled one, with players from both sides even having a good laugh with one another while waiting for time to start. Aspley played well, but Burleigh proved too strong defeating Aspley 20-4. Burleigh taking home the Plate and $150 prize money. Burleigh player, Paige Rogers, also taking out player of the carnival.
The Cup final saw Beerwah Stingrays take on Beerwah Bulldogs, an all Beerwah clash. This was yet another fun filled game, with the Bulldogs taking out the win, the Cup and $600 with a final score of 20-8.
Stingrays didn’t go away empty handed, taking out the $300 second place prize. Beerwah took out $900 as a whole from the carnival. However, in a show of team solidarity, the Beerwah women donated $700 of their prize money to one of their players who was to play in the Queensland Women’s team in Sydney this past Saturday, but unfortunately ruptured her Achilles tendon in training camp a few days before the interstate match. Well done Beerwah!
Beerwah’s Women’s and Girls vice-president, Rodney Kerr, was extremely pleased with the carnival as a whole.
“I think the day was a great success and would like to thank all the players and volunteers for making the day work so well, and to Beerwah Hotel for sponsoring the prize money for the carnival,” he said.
“The referees were also very happy with the carnival and I think the spirit in which the games were played made their job easier.
“The Beerwah players thought it was a fun format and have suggested that a 9’s Carnival could be a great way to get season 2015 started.
“We also had some feedback from Burleigh that ‘everyone really enjoyed themselves’ and they were looking forward to the next one. I think the Carnival was a bit of light relief in a long season.”
Play of the Cup Final: Sarah Walker (Beerwah)
