Gee Shield grand final replay St Mary’s v Stretton SC
Supporters invaded the field in celebration as a new Gee Cup champion emerged on Wednesday. Relive all the Stretton v St Mary’s action from our LIVESTREAM.
Sport
Don't miss out on the headlines from Sport. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Stretton State College claimed a magnificent Gee Shield grand final 14-6 over St Mary’s on Wednesday afternoon.
Supporters invaded the field in celebration as Stretton players were swamped by their back slapping mates.
It was a fantastic match, and the roar from the Stretton camp at fulltime highlighted how much it meant to these young men.
A penalty goal by Stretton State College forward leader Corey Nassif raised the flags and presented his team with a 14-6 lead two minutes from time.
Stretton College’s dream of playing in the Langer Trophy remains alive after the win against a big-hearted St Mary’s who fought to the death in the Brisbane Broncos-sponsored competition.
The second half was full of a series of big moments, including when when Stretton set sail for the right hand corner, looking to wrap up the match, only for St Mary’s pair Harry Eyers and Kobe Timms to scramble Stretton into touch.
Then Stretton dummy half Josh Sharp reached out to score, but he was just centimetres short on the last tackle and St Mary’s escaped.
At one stage in the second half St Mary’s interchange forward Botrus Dokshen made three tackles in four as St Mary’s tried to attack with their defence. It was rugged grand final action at its best.
Stretton even tried a field goal in this period looking for a seven point buffer, but Bailey Neave’s kick was charged down by a surging wall of St Mary’s players.
Two tries in three minutes saw Stretton State College sweep from behind and take a 10-4 lead into halftime.
Prop Lefteris Constanti scored a powerhouse try, running strongly onto the ball after right edge wrecking ball Corey Nassif had shredded the St Mary’s defence.
Nassif’s conversion followed a try onl minutes earlier by centre Josh Beetham who finished off a crisp, free flowing wide passing movement to the left sideline.
All this after had St Mary’s opened the scoring and looked the better side for two-thirds of the first half.
Saints centre Bailey Nash crasjed over, with the Clydesdales Meninga Cup representative player disappearing under a mass of bodies, but referee confidently awarded the try. It was 4-nil.
A break soon after by Alijah Duncan, and a kick to the corner from Kobe Timms, had Stretton burning more energy at the wrong end of the field.
This was further compounded when fullback Tait Cameron broke clear from the subsequent kick-return, although Stretton College did scramble and recover.
St Mary’s were having the better of the first half, with a third clean break, this time by centre Noah Rogers, but Stretton were able to limit the damage.
A Bailey Neave 40-20 then provided Stretton with their best chance, but a sweeping backline movement did not find its mark.
But having had a misfire, Stretton State College finished its best passage of play with a smooth, silky try to left centre Beetham who crossed near halftime in the corner.
Earlier, St Mary’s College drew first blood on grand final day by claiming a thrilling DeVere Cup decider 20-16.
Saints jumped out of the blocks with two first half tries and were full of running before Stretton State College staged a wonderful grand final comeback.
The match finished with Stretton hammering the St Mary’s line, only for Saints to hang on in a thriller.
THE PREVIEW
St Mary’s College senior squad has been praised by coach Louis Reen after rebounding from the disappointment of missing this season’s Langer Trophy competition.
St Mary’s will play comeback kings Stretton State College who claimed a come-from-behind win over Caloundra SHS last Wednesday.
Saints, defeated by Mabel in the Langer playoff, has made every post a winner with a number of new faces this season.
GIRL POWER: HOW THE SCHOOLGIRLS HAD ORIGIN HEROES CHEERING WILDLY
“We were realistic at the start of the year of where we felt we were at,’’ Reen said.
“We lost a number of key players which created opportunities for some younger players to step up.
“Our job as coaches was to get the group to find confidence in themselves again and they certainly have shown that in the last month or two.
“The players also have grown together aided by a positive Confraternity experience which is important for the team dynamic and now we are ready to put our best performance in to beat a strong Stretton outfit.’’
RELATED LINKS
MARSDEN SHS’S TEAM OF THE 2020s - and their greatest ever side
WATCH THE LATEST SCHOOLBOY LIVE STREAM REPLAYS HERE
WHY ORIGIN GREAT’S OLD SCHOOL IS AN NRL SCOUTING TALENT POOL
He said the team moved “away from one dimensional power based football’’ to a more creative style of play as the season evolved.
“Our attention to detail in defensive aspects of our game has also been a key area of improvement this season.’’
An eye-catching element of Stretton’s performance in its win over Caloundra SHS was that the side came from behind in wet and slippery conditions when Caloundra seemed to have won the game.
That performance did not surprise forward leader Corey Nassif. “We turned up in attack and defence and kept following each other. “Now we have to turn up again.’’
Nor did the performance to beat Caloundra in the wet from 10-nil down surprise coach Jacks.
“The boys have always shown that type of resilience before and they finished well.’’
This week’s round of Langer fixtures includes the Clash of the Titans - Keebra Park SHS v Palm Beach Currumbin SHS.
The teams: Stretton State College: 1. Jackson Rose, 2. Mason Wise, 3. Lachlan Birnie, 4. Josh Beetham, 5. Jet Watson, 6. Kayliss Brown, 7. Bailey Neave, 8. Lefteris Constanti, 9. Josh Sharp, 10. Tom Hunt, 11. Jack McCosker, 12. Corey Nassif, 13. Connor Richards, 14. Montel Edwards, 15. Max Black, 16. Lehi Obeda, 17. Mark Ruming, 18. Mana Smith
St Mary’s College: 1. Tait Cameron, 2. Cruz Williamson, 3. Klayton Pickering, 4. Noah Rogers, 5. Patrick Sanderson, 6. Bailey Nash, 7. Kobe Timms, 8. Darcy Carswell, 9. Lachlan Hilton, 10. Harry Schwenke, 11.Jai Purser, 12. Zac Brown, 13. Harry Eyers, 14. Lachlan Thompson, 15. Matt Simpkin, 16. Botrus Dokshen, 17. Tarrant Whittingham, 18, Alijah Duncan, 19. Darcy Goodman
U12 girls, boys Queensland netball squads revealed
The talent pool of netball in Queensland is ever growing, and if the recent Under-12s School Sport Nationals are anything to go by, there’s no slowing down. Meet the squads and hear how they brought home gold and bronze:
‘Best celebration’: Brisbane Lions fan’s epic reaction to insane win
Is this the best reaction to the Brisbane Lions thrilling comeback against the Giants in the sudden-death semi-final?