The grit and determination the Mackay Cutters pride themselves on shone through in their 12-10 win against Northern Pride yesterday afternoon.
In a perfect Sunday afternoon for football at Barlow Park, Jordan Pereira book ended the match with a double.
The XXXX Rivalry Round game lived up the billing. Pereira's try with about two minutes to go levelled the scores before Liam Taylor calmly slotted the winning conversion, which was five metres from the sideline.
Cutters coach Kim Williams said it was a scrappy affair but a vital win, coming off two losses.
"It was a very important win for us," he said. "It keeps us in the top five and we'll gain some confidence going into the (Townsville) Blackhawks."
The Cutters' best were Brad Lupi and Tyson Martin while utility Josh Osborne suffered an early foot injury.
The Cutters host the top-of-the-table Blackhawks Friday night at Stadium Mackay in what is set to be another cracking northern derby.
MACKAY CUTTERS 12 (Jordan Pereira 2 tries; Liam Taylor 2 goals) def NORTHERN PRIDE 10 (Luke George, Jason Roos tries; Javid Bowen goal) at Barlow Park.
Final Teams
Northern Pride: 1. Hezron Murgha 2. Linc Port 3. Brett Anderson (c) 4. Javid Bowen 5. Luke George 6. Ryan Ghietti 7. Sam Obst 8. Jack Svendsen 9. Jason Roos (c) 10. David Murphy 11. Vaipuna Tia Kilifi 12. Graham Clark 13. Tom Hancock 14. Cameron King 21. Ben Spina 16. Sheldon Powe Hobbs 22. Patrick Kaufusi
Mackay Cutters: 1. Sam Clune 2. Jordan Pereira 3. Tyson Martin 4. Justin Tavae 5. Zack Walker 6. Cameron Cullen 7. Liam Taylor 8. Brad Lupi 9. Michael Sio 10. Chris Gesch (c) 11. Brenden Treston 12. Josh Osborne 13. Aleki Falepaini 14. Josh Chudleigh 16. Joss Boyton 18. Ryan Kinlyside 17. Rory Kostjasyn
This first appeared on the Mackay Daily Mercury: Cutters late try shows true grit
