Dayboro Cowboys have booked themselves a showdown with Souths Inala Warriors in the major semi-final this weekend with a convincing 28-0 defeat of Redlands Parakeets at Kev Hayward Oval, Deception Bay.
The Cowboys were sensational in a defensive effort that has seen them produce what was a clinical display of rugby league.
In what posed to be a mouth-watering match up, ended up being a one-sided affair by the Northside outfit, as they kept the Parakeets scoreless throughout the entire game.
In the third minute of the game, Cowboys winger Blain Cleghorn showed why he is one of the form wingers of the competition, latching onto a nice pass from Poutawera Ratana, with the reliable flanker touching down in the corner.
Experienced Cowboys captain / coach Kane Zalewski was magnificent in this game orchestrating his troops around the field, something that he is renowned for in this competition.
The Cowboys stretched their lead to 10-0 in the 17th minute courtesy of centre Poutawera Ratana, who was outstanding for Dayboro.
Poor ball security was starting to creep into Redlands' game, resulting in a glut of possession for the Cowboys.
With a huge Cowboys presence in the crowd, Dayboro started to look quite comfortable in the hot conditions.
Ratana - who was proving to be a handful with the ball in his hands - palmed off three Parakeets and used his strength to power over the line to shoot the lead out to 14-0, five minutes out from the break.
As frustration started to seep into the Parakeets game in the latter stages of the first half, a lazy high shot saw Zalewski gifted an easy shot at penalty goal, sending the Cowboys into the break leading 16-0.
As much as the Cowboys were in command, Redlands refused to put up the white flag.
Parakeets stalwarts Craig Matheson and Lukas McIntyre were in everything in this game and their resilience shone through.
Matheson’s kicking game was superb in a losing side, ensuring the Cowboys were on guard whenever he had the ball in attack.
Former Norths Devil Troydon Watene was then introduced into the game for the Cowboys and his invaluable experience proved to be a masterstroke, with the powerful back rower crashing in beside the posts to further increase the scoreline.
Defensively, the game upped the tempo, with both sides producing some monster hits in the second half.
Cowboys Aiden Sullivan, Cody Heathwood and Roddy Faapito were the pick of the bunch for Dayboro, whilst McIntyre and Jake Barwick dished out their side’s punishment in return.
Zalewski’s kicking in general play though was immense to say the least.
The Parakeets were continually on the back foot throughout this game, as the clever five-eighth toyed with his opposition through some fantastic positional kicks.
Redlands did produce patches of positives in this game regardless of the scoreline, with fullback and captain Haydn Roberts superb when chiming into the backline and Matheson was dangerous as ever at halfback.
However, the final say of the match belonged to the Cowboys who were flawless.
With three minutes left on the clock, Dayboro were in again under the sticks, putting the finishing touches on what was a great all-round performance in front of a bumper finals crowd.
