The Pine Rivers Bears have booked a grand final berth, dispatching Easts Juniors 28-10 in the preliminary final showdown at Langlands Park on Saturday.
Coming off the back of the previous weeks 72-point thrashing, Easts displayed great composure and secured field position effectively.
However, their inability to capitalise on scoring opportunities and poor defence proved to be their downfall as the Pine Rivers backs ran amok.
Both teams tested each others defence early, with attacking sets in their opponents halves. Pine Rivers broke the deadlock when Victor Field lunged over the try line with outstretched arms to put the Bears up 6-0.
Easts Thomas Tuumaga retaliated with a midfield break which looked certain to even the board. His offload went to Jardii Nean who juggled it for 10 metres before knocking on, killing Juniors first chance.
The Bears retaliated, seizing the opportunity. Adam Breen fired a 40-20 downfield to pave the way for an attacking set that set up a try for Tye Ingebrigtsen, edging their lead out to 10-0.
The Juniors responded in style, notching up their first four-pointer with a great dart at the line from Dean Weller, but undid their hard work only 10 minutes later when they let Pine Rivers sneak one back in the dying minutes of the half, bringing the margin to 16-6.
The Bears wasted little time as play got underway in the second half, with a spectacular effort from Field followed up by a piece of sideline speed from Dylan Hawea that pushed their lead out to 26-6.
Although down on the scoreboard, the Easts forwards were dominating in the middle. Victor Pei and Keron Kolo-Buckle bulldozed the defensive line to create a scoring chance for the eastsiders. A wide ball to Pei propelled the big man over in almost identical fashion to his previous weeks effort, bringing his team up to 26-10.
Easts had several more cracks at the Pine Rivers line in the final quarter of the game, but some poor kicking and the speed of the Pine Rivers defence off the line neutralised the opportunities.
The Bears nabbed a penalty in the final minute to add the extra two points, setting them up for a grand final showdown with Brighton Sandgate Gaters this Saturday.
Coming off the back of the previous weeks 72-point thrashing, Easts displayed great composure and secured field position effectively.
However, their inability to capitalise on scoring opportunities and poor defence proved to be their downfall as the Pine Rivers backs ran amok.
Both teams tested each others defence early, with attacking sets in their opponents halves. Pine Rivers broke the deadlock when Victor Field lunged over the try line with outstretched arms to put the Bears up 6-0.
Easts Thomas Tuumaga retaliated with a midfield break which looked certain to even the board. His offload went to Jardii Nean who juggled it for 10 metres before knocking on, killing Juniors first chance.
The Bears retaliated, seizing the opportunity. Adam Breen fired a 40-20 downfield to pave the way for an attacking set that set up a try for Tye Ingebrigtsen, edging their lead out to 10-0.
The Juniors responded in style, notching up their first four-pointer with a great dart at the line from Dean Weller, but undid their hard work only 10 minutes later when they let Pine Rivers sneak one back in the dying minutes of the half, bringing the margin to 16-6.
The Bears wasted little time as play got underway in the second half, with a spectacular effort from Field followed up by a piece of sideline speed from Dylan Hawea that pushed their lead out to 26-6.
Although down on the scoreboard, the Easts forwards were dominating in the middle. Victor Pei and Keron Kolo-Buckle bulldozed the defensive line to create a scoring chance for the eastsiders. A wide ball to Pei propelled the big man over in almost identical fashion to his previous weeks effort, bringing his team up to 26-10.
Easts had several more cracks at the Pine Rivers line in the final quarter of the game, but some poor kicking and the speed of the Pine Rivers defence off the line neutralised the opportunities.
The Bears nabbed a penalty in the final minute to add the extra two points, setting them up for a grand final showdown with Brighton Sandgate Gaters this Saturday.