The Vantage Homes Sunshine Coast Falcons have claimed their fourth victory in a row with a comprehensive 52-14 win over CQ Capras at Sunshine Coast Stadium yesterday.
Joe Stimson, Jake Turpin, Ryan Morgan and man-of-the-match Alex Bishop all crossed for doubles for the home team, with the 38-point win solidifying the Falcons' place within the Intrust Super Cup’s top six.
Leading 18-0 at halftime, the Falcons piled on a further six tries in the second stanza to pass 50 points for the first time this season in an entertaining performance which is sure to put other sides on notice as the season rolls toward September.
The Falcons had to withstand early pressure by the Capras in the opening minutes and eventually worked their way up the attacking end, only to blow a golden scoring chance with the try line beckoning.
A play-the-ball error by the Capras in the 11th minute led to winger Richie Kennar being held up over the line in the subsequent set and moments later, Jye Ballinger lost the ball over the chalk.
Persistence soon paid off for the home side when backrower Stimson latched on to a short ball, proving impossible to take down close to the line to hand the Falcons a 6-0 lead after 16 minutes.
Sunshine Coast doubled their lead in the 28th minute when Tom Murphy held up play from dummy half to send Stimson through a gap in the Capras' defence and over the stripe for another try.
The scoreboard soon stretched to 18-0 when hooker Turpin came off the bench and found space through the middle of the park allowing five-eighth Bishop a clear passage to the line.
Central Queensland had an opportunity to score inside the final two minutes of the first half, but were denied by some desperate and enthusiastic Falcons defence.
It only took the Falcons 90 seconds after the interval to post further points when the energetic Bishop weaved his way through some lazy defence to help himself to a double.
The points continued five minutes later when Morgan crossed and Stimson's conversion took the Falcons out to a 30-0 lead.
The Capras finally troubled the scorers in the 52nd minute with a try against the run of play when winger Junior Kirisome snatched an intercept and raced 95m despite attention from Troy Giess and Bishop in cover defence.
Six minutes later, the Falcons snared yet another four-pointer when Turpin slithered through some feeble Capras defence to take the score to 36-4.
CQ Capras added another try in the 60th minute when Aleki Falepaini caught a cross-field kick, although Matt Minto's conversion attempt was waved away to keep the Falcons ahead by 28.
Moments later, a mistake by the visitors was pounced on by Bishop who threw a cut-out ball to Curtis Scott who crossed in the corner.
Stimson’s perfect afternoon with the boot ended via the right-hand upright as the score remained 40-8 in favour of the Falcons with 15 minutes left.
The Falcons kept carving the Capras up through the middle of the park and the ever-present Turpin was on hand again to reap the benefits and score his second try.
Reece Baker scored a fortuitous consolation try for the Capras seven minutes from fulltime which took the score to 46-14, before Morgan iced the win with another try from a powerful run.
Falcons coach Craig Ingebrigtsen singled out a number of standout performers for his side, who he hopes stay fit and healthy heading into the business end of the season.
“Felise Kaufusi, Alex Bishop and Ryley Jacks were good again,” Ingebrigtsen said.
“I thought our whole forward pack was good, but a special mention goes to Tommy Murphy who did a lot of good work off the ball today and did some really good things with his contact and wrestle.”
Ingebrigtsen believes the Falcons are gaining confidence at the right end of the season and is encouraging fans to support their team when they take on Wynnum Manly Seagulls at home next Sunday at 3pm.
“We leave here today confident knowing our footy system is working and some of our footy today was off the cuff, but a lot of it was structured and that's a big thing for us,” he said.
“There are two big games of footy are left to go so we just have to hope the crowd gets behind us and we get the support of the community because today's (support) was really good.”
See the final team line-ups and full scoring details via QRL Live
SUNSHINE COAST FALCONS 52 (Alex Bishop 2, Ryan Morgan 2, Jake Turpin 2, Joe Stimson, Tui Kamikamica, Curtis Scott tries; Joe Stimson 8 goals) def CQ CAPRAS 14 (Junior Kirisome, Aleki Falepaini, Reece Baker tries; Matt Minto goal) at Sunshine Coast Stadium.
