The South East Queensland pre-season Under 16s challenge series continued over the weekend with Bishop Park hosting Round 3.
First up it was Ipswich hoping to bounce back against Gold Coast Yellow after a disappointing hit-out against Brisbane Grey in Round 2.
Ipswich defended strongly and were unlucky to concede a late try which saw the scores locked 10-10 at the break.
Gold Coast Yellow added two tries in the second term, both coming late in the half to eventually notch a 22-12 win. Ipswich coach Denis Wall was very pleased with the improved effort from the young Diggers.
In Game 2, Brisbane Grey led 10-6 approaching halftime, but an exciting try on the siren from Gold Coast White saw the scores level at the break.
It was White who looked better in attack over the second stanza, but they were unable to convert that into more points as they dropped the ball over the try line on two occasions.
Grey’s defence continued to turn up and in the dying minutes they went the length of the field to secure a thrilling 16-10 win in what was the game of the day.
Brisbane Grey’s Lukas White was outstanding as he scored two tries and slotted two goals to post 12 of his team’s 16 points.
The final game was the Brisbane derby, with Red facing Blue. Red got away to a strong start, crossing for two tries to lead 10-6 at halftime.
A try in the first minute of the second half pushed the lead to 16-6 and Red looked to be in a comfortable position, but Blue fought back hard.
Blue pushed wider in attack and found results, levelling the scores with 10 minutes to go. With momentum on their side, Blue kept rolling and scored three more tries to claim a come from behind 30-16 win.
Winger Jamaine Laei scored a double for Blue, but backrower Jack Howarth was the star scoring a barnstorming hat-trick of tries to get his team over the line.
Round 4 fixtures
Saturday, March 24 at Emerson Park, Bega Street, Grange:
Ipswich v Gold Coast White 2pm
Brisbane Red v Gold Coast Yellow 3pm
Brisbane Blues v Brisbane Grey 4pm
