Blues late surge not enough for shield

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Queensland Women v New South Wales Women

New South Wales win game two, 18-14 over Queensland but lose the Origin series on aggregate in front of 18,275 at Townsville. 

A late Yasmin Clydesdale gave the Sky Blues a win on the night but due to their earlier loss in Parramatta, Queensland regained the shield on a good two days for the sunshine state in rugby league. 

The Blues knew they needed to start the game fast, and the visitors were on from the whistle. They spread the ball early and often and got themselves on the scoresheet in the third minute of the game. 

It was a wonderful kick from Keeley Davis which found Tiana Penitani who touched down just inside the dead ball line. Jesse Southwell added a penalty goal to put the Sky Blues up 6-0 and taken a huge chunk from the deficit. 

Queensland absorbed the Blues early pressure and struck back. Tarryn Aitken slipped a pass to Tazmin Gray who found an onrushing Tamika Upton to get them back within two points and get the crowd into the contest. 

They added a pair of tries to stretch their lead to 14-6 at the break. Gray was involved again with Emily Bass diving over in the corner then Aitken sliced through the Sky Blues defense to get Queensland's third four-pointer. 

Needing 16 points to retain the shield, Sky Blues faced an uphill task in the second half. It felt like deja vu, Penitani touched down for her second try with some slick hands on the left side to get them back within four. 

The Sky Blues needed points quickly and often. They were gifted another penalty in front and Southwell piloted the conversion over to bring it back to 14-12 and set up for a grandstand finish. 

They surged forward in the final twenty minutes to get another four-pointer but were repelled by Queensland on every occasion. It felt like the shield was headed back north after another disappointment for New South Wales.

New South Wales gave themselves a faint hope in the final minute. They kept the ball alive to find a gap then Yasmin Clydesdale looked to touch down but the ball was kicked out by Shanae Ciesiolka which prompted a penalty try for 18-14. 

The visitors were given a final chance after Clydesdale was injured from a hip drop tackle. They weren't able to find a miracle so we get the weird circumstance of New South Wales winning the game but losing the series on aggregate.