Tweed swamps Easts Tigers

TWEED HEADS SEAGULLS 40 defeat EASTS TIGERS 16

Scoring three tries off the bench against last year?s grand finalists, prop Jeff Moate looked nothing like a player who?d had his match preparations swept away by torrential flooding.

Indeed, the entire Tweed Heads club showed fantastic composure to recover from one of the roughest weeks for the Northern Rivers community to flog Easts 40-14 at Langlands Park on Sunday.

The game had been switched at late notice due to the fact Tweed?s home ground, the Piggabeen Complex, was in coach Steve Murphy?s words ?a disgrace? after days of constant rain.

Not only did the Coast side forfeit home ground advantage however, they also trained just twice during the week for brief periods at a time.

?Absolutely terrible is the only way you could describe the preparation,? Murphy said.

?It couldn?t have been worse given we had blokes stuck in houses that couldn?t get out to train because they were surrounded by water.?

When it came to game time though, the Seagulls turned up switched on. Commandeering a healthy slice of both possession and field position, they led 18-4 at halftime.

Murphy said he was unhappy at that stage, given an error rate that prevented his side from taking full advantage of their opportunities.

The second half was more pleasing for the Tweed mentor, with the Seagulls taking a more rigorous approach to attacking and defending the centre of the ruck.

Moate?s hat-trick was the icing on the cake; the kid from Mullumbimby maintaining good form after his return from the Sydney Roosters.

Others to shine for Tweed were Ben Hill and skipper Matt King. Andrew Moroney (knee) was once again unavailable, while David Strachan (knee) and Jay Hampson (wrist) were injured during the match.

While Tweed is in equal fifth with Toowoomba, Easts has slipped to eighth and is three points outside the top five and has one less game to play.

Round 16 will pit Tweed Heads against Burleigh at Pizzey Park on Sunday, with Easts facing Central on Saturday at Langlands Park.

TWEED HEADS 40 (Jeff Moate 3, Ryan O?Connell, Tom Prichard, Tim Maccan, Jay Hampson tries; Brad Davis 6 goals)

beat

EASTS 14 (Walter Imo, Brandon Costin, Mark Cantoni tries; Brandon Costin goal)

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