Logan Brothers showed why they are top of the table in Open 1 South with a dominant display of rugby league which resulted in a 56-4 thrashing of Slacks Creek Lions at Usher Park.
Having only lost one game so far this season, Logan put on 11 tries to cement first place on the ladder. Enigmatic fullback Ono Sa’oialo was superb at the back bagging an incredible four tries for the afternoon. His finesse and execution into the backline was nothing short of dazzling as he ran riot with the Lions defence all day.
Logan kicked off proceedings on the scoreboard in the fifth minute when man of the moment Sa’oialo stepped his way through three defenders to score beside the posts. With halfback Reece Purcell making no mistake with the conversion, Logan was up 6-0 early on.
The defence by both sides was absolutely brutal. Logan led by behemoth Tezzy Kepu and lock Chris Turner punished the Slacks Creek defence with some bone jarring tackles, however the Lions did not back down and had second rower Fiama Pulu and Lock Chris Laban dishing out a return serve of their own to the Logan pack.
It was Sa’oialo again on the scoresheet as he chimed beautifully into the backline from a superb cut out pass by Purcell who scored out wide leaving the Lions defenders clutching at thin air. The difficult conversion was waved away taking Logan to a 10-0 lead.
It was the Sa’oialo and Purcell show once again as Purcell latched onto a nice pass to score under the posts. He converted his own try and had Logan in a very handy 16-0 lead early on.
Logan’s next try came on the back of a towering bomb by five eighth Michael Dooi which was dropped by Lions replacement winger Maka Vaa. Logan centre David Gorman scooped up the ball and saw daylight and he nabbed a very easy try out wide.
Logan were so much in control of the match that they were able to put on a few rehearsed plays that saw their next try coming from a brilliant kick by Dooi who found winger Jake Busby to fly high and score in the corner. With goal kicking becoming a problem for Brothers, they still had the edge over the lions at 26-0.
Logan who seemed determined to produce some inventive rugby league even deep inside their own half payed off, with lock Chris Turner collecting a clever pass from hooker Glen Salter who charged unstoppably over the tryline. Another quick try to Enesi Salu for Logan stretched the lead even further and had Logan go into the sheds with a comfortable 34-0 lead.
Slacks Creek came out all fired up in the second half and started to dominate the ruck with some quick fire play the balls and bustling runs and as a result finally got on the scoreboard with halfback Jordan Afuie finding the normally impenetrable Logan defence napping on the blindside. He threw a magnificent cut out pass to find Tua Kilipati who crossed for the Lions and was well applauded by the Lions faithful supporters. Conversion was unsuccessful, but Logan was still in overdrive.
The next two tries came back to back with Sa’oialo bagging a hat trick under the posts and halfback Dooi who was busy with the ball all day crossed beside the posts. Logan was now in a prime position to rack up a cricket score as the scoreboard read 44-4.
Slacks Creek were still causing their esteemed opposition problems with Hercules like defence and made it tough for the visitors to pile on more points, but with a powerful forward pack and an instrumental backline, Logan were not to be outdone or out muscled and crossed again in the 67th minute as hulking prop Kepu with three defenders hanging on, offloaded a nice pass to replacement Tony Chong who went over under the posts. Sa’oialo added the extras to bring up the half century for Logan.
The game was in its dying stages when Sa’oialo put the icing on the cake and added to his tally of tries with a neat show and go running across the Lions goal line before slicing his way through the defence to score his fourth try of the afternoon. Final score Logan Brothers 56 Slacks Creek 4.
In other games.........
Bulimba Valleys 26 stay equal top with a win over Wynnum Juniors 10, Carina 26 Beat Beenleigh Juniors 16, West’s Inala 20 beat East’s Juniors 0 (Forfeit), Redlands 32 toppled Rochedale 12.
Points: Logan Brothers 16, Bulimba Valleys 16, Redlands 15, Wynnum Manly Juniors 12, West’s Inala 8, Carina 7, East’s Juniors 4, Rochedale 4, Slacks Creek 4, Beenleigh Juniors 4.
