The Seagulls age teams were both victorious in round one against Ipswich, with the strong FOGS Colts Cup under-20s racking up 60 points against the Jets but still not heading the ladder.
The Mal Meninga Cup under-18s, coached by Seagulls stalwarts and premiership winning players (and Palm Beach Currumbin teachers) Brad Davis and Tim Maccan, won 28-16 but suffered some crucial injuries along the way.
The Jamie McCormack-coached under-20s continue their good pre-season form, winning 60-18 and despite crossing for 10 tries, it was their defence that most pleased the coach.
“The Ipswich style which they play right through the grades can be difficult to counter but I was really happy with how our defensive system worked and restricted them to three tries,” he said.
“Off the back of that we were able to build some momentum and run away with the match. But it is only round one, so we’re not getting carried away as we head to Melbourne later in the week to play Victoria.
“They had some good wins against strong opposition in the Mal Meninga Cup last year so I expect them to be strong.”
TWEED HEADS SEAGULLS 60 (Jake Sparey 2, Marty Ferguson 2, Curtis Dansey-Smaller 2, Daniel Halmshaw, Jack Conlan, Bayley Gill, Jake Gleeson tries; Bayley Gill 10 goals) def IPSWICH JETS 18 (Matthew Gibuma, Andrew Richardson, Jordan Spry tries; Adrian Elder 3 goals) at Piggabeen Sports Complex.
For full match details – CLICK HERE
For the full under-20s Colts draw – CLICK HERE
In the under-18s, the Jets were far more conventional in their attacking approach compare to their ISC and Colts outfits but, again, it was a tight defensive effort that set up victory.
Co-coach Davis said his side wasn’t sure what to expect from the Jets but knuckled down and controlled the ruck well in the first half, taking a 22-16 lead to the break, scoring just before the end of the half.
“I thought we defended quite well, other than a few lapses, but I thought we controlled their ruck quite well and were able to slow them down and get set; so we weren’t too troubled,” he said.
“With the ball, we had a lot of opportunities but got too excited at some stages and tried to score some tries off too many sets rather than try to build pressure, but we’ll learn from that.”
The Seagulls lost three players to injury which left them undermanned with just one interchange forward, emphasising the character of the victory.
Prop Geordie Brand went off with concussion, interchange forward Bill Mozer suffered what could be a serious knee injury, while winger Chad Dewson also went off and did not return.
“The guys dug deep and covered for those losses which was pleasing.”
The under-18s also travel to Melbourne to take on Victoria on Saturday.
TWEED HEADS SEAGULLS 28 (Blake Campbell 2, Chad Dewson, Jordan Best, Brenton Daley-Holten tries; Kobe Whalan 3, Isaac Lee goals) def IPSWICH JETS 16 (Brian Burton, Sagalimu Vaitai, Tausaga Foa’i tries; John Vairoa, Lochlan Turnbull goals) at Piggabeen Sports Complex.
For full match details – CLICK HERE
For the Mal Meninga Cup under-18s draw – CLICK HERE
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