ROUND 10/2010 - Queensland Cup

Not known for their attacking flair this season, Souths Logan Magpies put other teams on notice with their 40-10 demolition of Easts Tigers at Davies Park yesterday. The Magpies ran away with the victory in the latter stages of the second half – but it was their two quick tries just before the half-time siren that set up the win.

Match Report

Scores were even on 10-10 with 30 minutes on the clock – but it took an out-of-this-world take from a player his team-mates call “Avatar” to put the Magpies ahead.

Matt Ward was pulled up from the FOGS team to fill the space of Raiders flyer Reece Robinson on the wing and he gave a good account of himself, setting up one try and scoring two others – including his impressive leaping effort.

From the resulting kick-off, the Magpies scored again after a kick ahead caught the Tigers fullback out of position and Souths Logan’s Quentin Laulu-Togagae ran through to pick up his second try of the afternoon.

With Souths Logan taking a healthy 22-10 lead into the break – the Tigers needed a spirited fightback, and they managed to quell the tide of points against them in the early stages of the second half with some determined defence.

But just as the Tigers began to work their way back into the game, the Magpies were on the board again through a strong Andrew Edwards run.

Things then went from bad to worse for the Tigers who lost five-eighth and skipper Jace Van Dijk to injury which severely dented their organisation in attack – which was exacerbated by the absence of regular try-scorers Liam Campbell and Adam Breen.

However, the visitors did have a few chances, and when James Stosic charged down a Souths Logan kick and ran down the field after scooping up the ball – it seemed the Tigers would add to their points tally.

But the Magpies defence held firm and with 20 minutes left in the game – Ward batted down a high ball into the arms of Justin Carney for him to score, before snatching a Phil Dennis kick to score for himself.

The win saw the Magpies cement second position on the Intrust Super Cup ladder.

The Tigers now have a week to regroup before hosting the in-form Tweed Heads Seagulls at Langlands Park.

Match Preview

Easts face a tough ask to get their season back on track in the wake of a heavy loss to Wynnum Manly last week.

The Tigers were outplayed all across the park and a massive improvement is needed otherwise there could be a repeat of the 41-12 scoreline from last weekend.

The Tigers have promoted former Wynnum forward Leon Panapa to the top grade side and in a surprise move, have named regular hooker/halfback Isaac Kaufmann in the No. 1 jersey.

Souths Logan are enjoying a rich vein of form, having won their five matches since a tight loss to Wynnum Manly in round 4.

The Magpies haven’t won any of those games by big margins and in a sign of a good side, they have been doing enough to win without playing spectacularly.

Easts do, however, dominate the head-to-head record, having won 19 of the 27 previous clashes.

Lewis Balcomb, a member of Souths Logan’s 2008 premiership team, plays his 50th match for Souths.

Player Line-Up