Devils lose in first half shocker

A FIRST half riddled with basic errors saw the Gympie Devils rugby league side come back down to earth with a thud on Saturday night.

Picture: Craig Warhurst

A FIRST half riddled with basic errors saw the Gympie Devils rugby league side come back down to earth with a thud on Saturday night.

The Devils ran on to Jack Stokes oval full of confidence after a gutsy display against the Broncos Under 20 side two weeks ago, but a pumped up Bundaberg East went on a 25 point first half scoring spree in the trial game to all but blot out any chance of a Devils win.

Stand in Devils Coach Bob Leitch said he thought his players might have been reading too much of their own press during the week.

“The boys didn't turn up ready to play,” he said.

“The first half was flat and very embarrassing.

“The mistakes killed us.”

Drop balls and poorly placed kicks had the Devils defending its try line for most of the first half.

The Bundy side made the most of the mistakes racing to 14 nil lead before the Devils managed to hold the ball for six tackles and Devils lock Noel Haslam crossed out wide to take the quarter time score to 14-4.

The Devils came back stronger in the second quarter but again a dropped ball allowed Bundaberg to add another eight points before a touch of the English Premier League magic was unveiled at Jack Stokes oval.

English import forward Johno Smith caught the Bundaberg defence napping when he chipped a ball over the opposition defensive line.

Fellow English import centre Danny Shaw ran on to the ball and toed it through to the in goal, while a rampaging Smith backed up to dive in and score the try much to the delight of the Jack Stokes crowd.

A Bundaberg field goal on the half time hooter saw the score end up 25 - 10 at the main break.

The second half saw the Devils outscore their opponents 16-14, adding some respectability to the 39-26 final score and giving the Devils some positives to take out of the match.

“We had an ordinary first half,” Leitch said.

“We didn't get off the line in defence and lacked enthusiasm.”

Leitch said Trent Callaghan, Noel Haslam and Ben Harney had good games.

Harney had been running the water to the team while nursing an injury, but decided to lace the boots up when the team started slowly.

“We noticed the difference when he got on the park,” Leitch said.

“He had us going forward.

“I just like to congratulate the boys on the second half, but it was the first quarter that was embarrassing.

“We had a lot of blokes out, but that is no excuse.”

The Devils will be heading away to Dalby for their next trial game.

Originally published as Devils lose in first half shocker