Edmonton stormed home over Southern Suburbs in chilly conditions at Alley Park on Saturday and reclaimed the Ryan Deemal Memorial Shield with a 36-10 win.
Since 2009, the Ryan Deemal Memorial Shield has been fiercely contested between both teams in a rivalry similar to State of Origin.
For the past two years, the shield was held by Southern Suburbs before this year's upset win by Edmonton.
Edmonton registered first points with a four-pointer to Asi Asi John.
This was backed up with another try to Storm by Isaiah Pau and when Sterling Amber knocked over the conversion, this put them out to a 10-point lead.
A try to Ryley Archibald right on the stroke of halftime put Suburbs on the scoreboard and with extras slotted by Richard Joinbee, the home side went into the sheds trailing by four.
Things started going awry for Suburbs when frustration boiled over and one of their players was sent to cool his heels in the sin bin.
Matters were made even worse after some backchat to the referee resulted in it being upgraded to a send off which left the home side a player down for most of the second half.
Ten minutes into the second half, a successful penalty kick by Edmonton extended their lead by six.
The Storm then posted 12 points in quick succession with tries to Horace Richards, Robert Nona and Monroe Stephens and one of the three conversions slotted put their lead out to 26-6.
A try to Kody Oliver was to be Suburbs only points in the second half, before Edmonton scored one more try through Jymaal Mellor-King to secure the win and bring home the prized shield.
After the game, Harry Deemal presented the shield named in memory of his son to winning Storm A grade captain Taputoa (Sonny) Rea.
This was the first time in the season Edmonton had notched back-to-back wins to put them four points out of the top five behind Suburbs who are currently sitting eighth on the ladder.
Edmonton coach Anthony Satrick said it was great to get the two points at Alley Park.
The coach said there has always been a fierce rivalry between both clubs so it was even more special to get the win.
"Our goal tonight was to come to Alley Park and cause an upset which we managed to do," Satrick said.
"We knew if we were good enough, and stayed in the game we could bring the trophy home.
"I felt our attitude was great, the boys played well and put in big minutes."
He believed it was their forward pack who won the game, as it was a real battle of the forwards.
"If we were able to build pressure through the middle, then I knew the younger boys would finish things off" Satrick said.
Satrick said it was a real honour to play for the shield and for the club to bring it back home to Petersen Park after two years.
He paid tribute to Mellor-King and their winger Munroe Mosby, both aged 17 who really stood up.
"It has been a building process within the club and playing group this season, as they are still learning their craft," Satrick said of the younger players who had provided a huge boost to the club.
"Over time, the boys are starting to trust in a few processes and structures, so it's just a matter of working on attitude."
At training this week, the coach said their focus would be on line speed, individual effort and knowing when to apply pressure.
This weekend, Edmonton will clash with Yarrabah at home where they are expecting their opposition to come out strong keen to avenge their previous one point loss to Storm when the teams last met at Jilara Oval.
A reunion of Southern Suburbs 2001 Under 18 premiership team was also held on the weekend where all but two team members attended.
It has been 18 years since the side defeated Yarrabah in the CDRL grand final to claim the Under 18 premiership.
(Ryan Deemal's name is used with the expressed permission of Harry Deemal)
Round 15 Results
A Grade
Yarrabah 36 defeated Tully 18
Edmonton 36 defeated Southern Suburbs 10
Cairns Brothers 24 defeated Mareeba 12
Atherton 36 defeated Kangaroos 12
Innisfail 46 defeated Ivanhoes 4
Bye: Mossman-Port Douglas
Ladder: Mossman-Port Douglas 20, Yarrabah 20, Innisfail 19, Cairns Brothers 18, Atherton 14, Kangaroos 13, Ivanhoes 13, Southern Suburbs 12, Edmonton 10, Mareeba 8, Tully 1
Reserve Grade
Southern Suburbs 33 defeated Edmonton 18
Tully 24 defeated Yarrabah 16
Atherton 64 defeated Kangaroos 4
Mareeba 60 defeated Cairns Brothers 22
Innisfail 50 defeated Ivanhoes 16
Under 18
Edmonton 62 defeated Southern Suburbs 0
Yarrabah won on forfeit by Tully
Cairns Brothers won on forfeit by Mareeba
Atherton won on forfeit by Kangaroos
Ivanhoes 22 defeated Innisfail 14
Round 16 A Grade Fixtures
Saturday, July 27
Atherton v Cairns Brothers at Mungalli Creek Dairy Stadium, Atherton
Innisfail v Kangaroos at Callendar Park, Innisfail
Mossman-Port Douglas v Mareeba at Coronation Park, Mossman
Sunday, July 28
Southern Suburbs v Ivanhoes at Alley Park, Gordonvale
Edmonton v Yarrabah at Petersen Park, Edmonton
Bye: Tully
Main image: After two years, Edmonton Storm reclaimed the Ryan Deemal Memorial Shield which was presented to them by Harry Deemal after they defeated Southern Suburbs at Alley Park on Saturday Photo: Maria Girgenti
