Norths Tigers defeated Brothers 36-32 in the Ipswich Rugby League Mayor Paul Pisasale A-Grade Cup on Sunday.
Norths were celebrating the 20-year reunion of its 1994 A-grade premiership winning team who defeated Brothers in the Grand Final all those years ago.
Celebrations continued as Norths showed that they will be a threat for this year’s A-grade title as they secured a well-fought victory over Brothers.
Norths were made to defend a lot early as they made multiple errors.
The Tigers were looking good in defence until the 16th minute when Shane Picker scored for Brothers from a well-placed cross-field kick.
Norths showed how well they can move the ball in the 24th minute when a passing play resulted in Anava Fesolai scoring in the corner for the Tigers.
The halfbacks from both teams started to shine in the last 10 minutes of the first-half when Brothers halfback Jason Connors and Norths halfback Ritchie Lowe scored in the 30th and 37th minute respectively.
With Brothers leading 12-10 with only seconds remaining in the first-half, Shane Picker scored to extend the Brethren’s lead to 16-10 at halftime.
Only nine minutes into the second-half Norths snatched the lead from Brothers after Brent Newton and Joshua Roberts scored for the Tigers.
After Roberts’ try Brothers kicked-off and Norths made an error early in the set to give Brothers prime attacking field position.
Brothers made the most of the opportunity when Elijah Umu crashed over from short-range to score a try, the conversion by Cameron Picker gave Brothers a 22-20 lead.
Norths weren’t behind for long when a well-worked set-play in the 60th minute resulted in a try for Tigers centre Tonga Mounga.
By the 71st minute Norths had raced out to a 36-22 lead following tries to both Tigers wingers; Drew Robinson and Anava Fesolai.
Brothers refused to give up despite the 14-point margin.
Vincent Seve scored for Brothers in the 74th minute to cut Norths’ lead to 8-points.
In the 77th minute Norths threw a forward pass and a scrum was awarded to Brothers, in the following set Brothers scored again to cut the margin to 4-points with less than one minute remaining.
In the final set of the match Brothers made a break down their right-edge and put in a chip-kick.
The Norths defenders gathered in the chip-kick and kicked the ball into touch to secure the Tigers a 36-32 victory over Brothers.
In the other Ipswich Rugby League Mayor Paul Pisasale A-Grade Cup round 14 games Goodna moved to outright first on the competition ladder, overtaking Brothers, with a 64-16 win over West End and Fassifern defeated Swifts 36-16.
