Pine Rivers have kept their finals hopes alive, moving into equal-fourth with Aspley after downing Wynnum 32-10 in front of their home crowd at Matheson Oval.
The consistency of the Pine Rivers defence and their dangerous short-kicking game were the deciding factors in what proved to be a tight tussle, with Wynnum putting on a great display of football.
The home team took control early in the game, scoring off the first set after a vicious bounce off the fifth-tackle kick funnelled the ball to the arms of Jack Walters who crossed, establishing a 6-0 lead.
Wynnum kept their composure, hitting back through Savelio Sia and James Tuineau to dominate the middle of the park and coming achingly close to a runaway try when Luke Badgery made a half-field break before being shut down by a scrambling Pine Rivers defence.
A string of penalties gave the hosts back-to-back sets on Wynnums try line and Kevin Sherriff came up with the goods for the Bears, hitting a beautiful inside line through the defence to secure another six points.
The score line blew out further only minutes later, when Pine Rivers' fullback Mitchell Bertwistle waltzed over to blow the margin out to 16-0.
In contrast to their less-than-dazzling performances throughout the season, the visitors wrestled back control and fired in two tries to close the gap to 16-10 at half time.
Wynnum was showing far more fight and finesse then they had displayed in prior games, but lapses in concentration and penalties still proved to be sticking points.
Pine Rivers exploited these weaknesses to the full, kicking off the second-half scoring through Lachlan Sushames. But again, the boys from the bay responded with force.
Tuineau and Sia, who led the way for Wynnum in the first half, were bolstered by a powering Orisi Qaraniqio to bust the Pine Rivers line apart and command the following 20 minutes of play.
However, try as they might, the visitors could not quite nab the all-important four pointer they needed to get back in the game.
Pine Rivers capitalised on this frustration, bagging two final tries to secure the 32-10 win.
The consistency of the Pine Rivers defence and their dangerous short-kicking game were the deciding factors in what proved to be a tight tussle, with Wynnum putting on a great display of football.
The home team took control early in the game, scoring off the first set after a vicious bounce off the fifth-tackle kick funnelled the ball to the arms of Jack Walters who crossed, establishing a 6-0 lead.
Wynnum kept their composure, hitting back through Savelio Sia and James Tuineau to dominate the middle of the park and coming achingly close to a runaway try when Luke Badgery made a half-field break before being shut down by a scrambling Pine Rivers defence.
A string of penalties gave the hosts back-to-back sets on Wynnums try line and Kevin Sherriff came up with the goods for the Bears, hitting a beautiful inside line through the defence to secure another six points.
The score line blew out further only minutes later, when Pine Rivers' fullback Mitchell Bertwistle waltzed over to blow the margin out to 16-0.
In contrast to their less-than-dazzling performances throughout the season, the visitors wrestled back control and fired in two tries to close the gap to 16-10 at half time.
Wynnum was showing far more fight and finesse then they had displayed in prior games, but lapses in concentration and penalties still proved to be sticking points.
Pine Rivers exploited these weaknesses to the full, kicking off the second-half scoring through Lachlan Sushames. But again, the boys from the bay responded with force.
Tuineau and Sia, who led the way for Wynnum in the first half, were bolstered by a powering Orisi Qaraniqio to bust the Pine Rivers line apart and command the following 20 minutes of play.
However, try as they might, the visitors could not quite nab the all-important four pointer they needed to get back in the game.
Pine Rivers capitalised on this frustration, bagging two final tries to secure the 32-10 win.
