Brothers are once again setting the pace after they defeated West End Bulldogs 38-4 in the 2014 Ipswich Rugby League Mayor Paul Pisasale A Grade Cup.
Brothers started the game against West End using their physicality and speed to keep the Bulldogs out of the game.
The Brethren led 16-0 after only 21 minutes with tries to Jason Connors, Elijah Umu and a try and two conversions to Sam Krueger.
In humid night conditions, Brothers’ second rower Elijah Umu was damaging in both attack and defence, playing a huge role in Brothers’ early dominance.
It wasn’t until the 30th minute that West End had their first real attacking opportunity, but Brothers’ defence held strong before the Bulldogs forced a repeat set.
With possession swinging to favour West End the tempo of the match slowed considerably as Brothers controlled the speed of the play-the-ball with methodical defence.
After holding West End out for consecutive sets on their own try-line, Brothers’ hard work paid-off when Cameron Picker extended the Brethren’s lead with a try from a strong edge-run to give Brothers a 20-0 half-time lead.
West End got a dream start to the second-half when Brothers knocked-on from the kick-off to give the Bulldogs prime attacking position.
West End were close to getting the ultimate start to the second-half when Bulldogs forward Nephi Tusa got over the try-line from a bullocking run, only for desperate Brothers defence to hold him up.
After defending under constant pressure for four minutes after half-time, Brothers worked their way out of trouble and put themselves into attacking position with a much-needed 40/20.
Brothers extended their lead to 26-0 in the set following the 40/20 when winger Ben Seve scored a try for the Brethren and Cameron Picker added the extras.
Prop Matt Bell scored under the posts for Brothers against a set West End defensive line to extend the Brethrens lead to 32-0 after the conversion.
West End forward Nephi Tusa was continuously causing havoc for Brothers’ defence and was rewarded with a try from a rampaging run in the 65th minute.
Josh Afoa put the icing on the cake for Brothers when he crashed over for a try under the posts with only minutes remaining.
Cameron Picker added the extras for Brothers to run out 38-4 winners over West End.
