Queensland Cup Wrap - Round 13
by
Tuesday June 15, 2004

Another extremely entertaining and interesting round of football occurred over the weekend, which left an incredible four teams tied for first on the competition table.

The top seven teams in the competition are now within 2 points of each other, highlighting just how close togeter in talent and potential the teams are. One thing is for sure: we are going to see a very exciting race to the finals as the season moves further towards the business end.

The ABC match of the round between Easts and Toowoomba was billed as one of the games of the year, and it well and truly lived up to the expectation. Darren Smith and Steve REnouf lead the visitors to a 30-22 win over the CLydesdales, who were also jam-packed with ex and current NRL stars. Toowoomba didn't start to hit their straps until 20 minutes into the match when they were 10-0 down thanks to two early tries by Easts. From then on it was a game of catch-up football, but the Clydesdales couldn't overcome the persistent Tigers, who again showed their premiership credentials. Well done to Chris Cox who picked both the winning side and margin, while my bias toward the Clydesdales paid no dividends!

Predictably, it was another poor week for Brothers-Valleys at their home ground, where they were smashed by Norths 66-12 on Saturday afternoon. Centre Anthony Zipf scored a record 7 tries in the one-sided thumping, which brought Norths to first position on the table thanks to an impressive for-and-against record. The final score could have been much more humiliating for the newcomers, with Norths missing an incredible 18 points in missed conversions.

The Redcliffe Dolphins ended their losing run on Sunday with a spectacular 52-16 mauling of Souths-Logan at Dolphin Oval. After a dismal four game losing streak, the premiers hit back in style at their home ground. Brian Jellick, Ben Jones and Danny Green all scored doubles in the match, as the Dolphins sent out a clear message to the teams in the top 5.

The North Queensland Young Guns secured a hard fought 31-24 victory over Wynnum at Kougari Oval on Sunday afternoon, to affirm their position as true contenders. Despite being well below strength due to NRL duties, the Young Guns lead 30-10 before Wynnum staged an impressive comeback. It was a case of too little too late, as the visitors hung on to secure the two points.

Tweed Heads scored a massive upset win on Sunday afternoon, downing local rivals Burleigh 28-26 at the Piggabeen Complex. Burleigh were undefeated for an amazing 9 weeks before the match, which was eventually decided on goalkicking. Despite fielding an understrength team, Tweed recovered from an incredible 26-6 half-time deficit to floor last years grand-finalists and notch their third straight win.
 
The Ipswich Jets succumbed to yet another loss over the weekend, going down 34-20 against Central Comets on Sunday night. The Jets lost playmaker Lindsay Bird in the 55th minute of the match, after an alleged elbowing incident resulted in his send-off. With a depleted 12 men on the field, Central took full advantage of their opportunities to keep Ipswich scoreless in the second stanza and keep their finals hopes alive.

Norths, Easts, Toowoomba and Burleigh are now level on 18 points, with North Queensland and Wynnum biting on their heels on 17 points. Reigning premiers Redcliffe are still in seventh position on 16 points to round out the congestion on top of the table. Central and Tweed still have a small chance at making the finals, just two wins behind the Dolphins on 12 points, while the season is well and truly over for Ipswich, Souths-Logan and Brothers-Valleys who sit on 5, 4 and 1 point respectively.

The season is well and truly hotting up, with 9 teams still in the finals race and plenty of action yet to come. Stay tuned!!