Souths Sunnybank Magpies continue to keep pace with the Rugby League Brisbane Southside 1 competition leaders thanks to a 20-4 win over Logan Brothers.
Sitting in third spot and played before a bumper crowd of Magpies old boys, Jim Murdoch Oval resembled a local rugby league game akin to the 1980s.
The action was fast and furious, culminating in a powerhouse defensive display by both teams.
Just after the seven-minute mark, Magpies winger Kalani Reweti was on the receiving end of a great backline movement.
The speedy winger inched his way down the sideline to cross just inside the touchline and get the points flowing for the home side.
A fantastic sideline conversation by powerhouse five eighth Logan Ritai had the Magpies swooping early in front of their vocal supporters.
Ritai had a hand in the next try using his strength to offload the ball, finding replacement player Lionel Ale.
A shimmy to the left had the rangy backrower spin out of a tackle to go in, further increasing the scoreline to 12-0 after the successful conversion.
Defensively both sides dished out some real punishment to each other. Sunnybank’s Dayne Apiti and wrecking ball Faanuuleao Lavea were simply outstanding for the home side.
Logan had two opportunities before the break to get on the board through props John Papalii and Wes Liaina, but the Magpies defence was rock solid on their line.
As the sides took the field for the second half, it would take barely a minute before Logan grabbed their first points of the afternoon through centre Shane Seiulu.
His incredible vision saw the three quarter snatch an opportunist intercept and he burned the opposition with a 40 metere special, touching down at the other end of the field.
Both sides had ample possession of the ball, it was just finding a gap with the defence that was the cornerstone of this game.
A superb kicking game by Sunnybank’s Ritai proved to be a masterstroke in turning the giant Logan pack around late in the game.
However, a few sloppy penalties started to creep in with the stakes and adrenalin of the game running high, which resulted in referee Richard Downie awarding a penalty to Sunnybank right in front of the sticks for a high tackle.
Ritai stepped up to knock over the easy conversion giving the home side a little more breathing space to lead 14-4.
Logan were unlucky not to score on two occasions through livewire hooker Josh Te Amo who was superb in a losing side and second row forward Francis Fifita showed again that he could easily make the step up to the higher grade.
However, on Old Boy’s Day, the Magpies were in no mood to let this game slip away.
With two minutes to go fists were raised in the air by the Magpies players, as prop Dayne Apiti showed a clean pair of heels to burst through a gap and slide in to claim what would prove to be an important victory on home soil.