Live stream: Keebra Park face Palm Beach Currumbin in all-Gold Coast Langer Trophy showdown

A committed Palm Beach Currumbin has taken down Keebra Park in emphatic style despite the latter sitting higher on the Langer Trophy table. Watch the full REPLAY and Walters Cup.

Palm Beach Currumbin overcame a fast-starting Keebra Park to surge to a storied Langer Trophy win.

PBC downed Keebra 34-18 in the round 7 clash to rubber stamp its title credentials after a testing start to their campaign.

The PBC halves pairing of Zane Harrison and Marley McLaren looked as potent as it had all season and played a pivotal hand in the stirring triumph over their Gold Coast rivals.

Despite the one-sided final score, Keebra made a red hot start to the clash and nabbed a 12-0 lead inside the first seven minutes.

REPLAYS

Keebra Park v Palm Beach Currumbin - Langer Trophy Round 7

Watch the full replay in the window above.

Keebra Park v Palm Beach Currumbin - Walters Cup, Round 7

A Reds calamity handed Keebra its second try of the day after a botched short drop-out went untouched by the defence and skipped straight into the running grasp of Santino Pekepo-Tevaga who acrobatically flung himself over the line.

From there, PBC rallied and responded emphatically, putting on 34 unanswered points until Tama Te Ahorangi Darlington bundled himself over the stripe for Keebra in the game’s final seconds.

“I was really pleased with how we responded, Keebra had a lot of ball in that first 10 minutes, we only had one set … they were really good,” PBC coach Tim Maccan said.

“We stuck to our game plan and came away with a good win.”

Five-eighth Marley McLaren came into his own to play his best game of the season, he scored two tries including a superb effort where he dinked a short grubber kick to himself and stepped superbly past the scrambling defender. His short-range kicking game was on song as he assisted another try with a pinpoint dribbler.

McLaren’s halves partner Harrison was up to his usual tricks with and had his fingerprints all over several tries, particularly a brilliant floating pass he threw that put Josh Donovan over for his double.

It was a special outing for Donovan at left centre, who was playing his second career Langer game and first of the season after breaking his jaw in the Mal Meninga Cup.

“Zane (Harrison’s) been outstanding the two games he’s been back and Marley McLaren was outstanding tonight, he really stood up and held his edge really well,” Maccan said.

“Ray Puru at the back is always dangerous. I thought our middles were really good, Hiawe King had a great game as did Isaac Harrsion.”

UAA Park was packed for the occasion as both schools were celebrating their Old Boys Day. Star Gold Coast Titans fullback Keano Kini, a PBC alumni who graduated in 2022, was among the names in attendance.

Keebra coach Peter Norman painted a frustrated picture after his side bungled its strong start.

“We’ve got to show a lot more resilience if we’re serious about winning the comp,” Norman said.

“At the end of the day it doesn’t affect where we are. We finished second so we’ll put this behind us, take our learnings and move forward.

“It was a great start, the first 10 minutes was clinical.”

Despite the loss, Keebra couldn’t be dislodged from second on the ladder, while Palm Beach Currumbin assured themselves a third-place finish.

Lock Tom Summer was Keebra’s best.

“He was really strong with some of his efforts in the middle … he really held it together,” Norman said.

“Joseph Tupuse had some nice touches at left centre, we just didn’t give ourselves a chance with the ball to give it to our real strike weapons.”

The earlier Walters Cup clash was a far brighter occasion for Keebra, who stormed to a 36-6 victory over PBC.

PREVIEW

It’s Old Boys Day and that adds fuel to the friendly fire as Langer Trophy big guns Palm Beach Currumbin and Keebra Park come together for their annual Gold Coast stoush on Tuesday night.

PBC have reigned supreme in their past two meetings on the Langer stage, including a try on the final play in 2023 after trailing the entire game.

Currently sitting side-by-side on the ladder - Keebra in second and PBC on their tail - bragging rights aren’t the only thing at stake.

Catch all the action from the Walters Cup/Langer Trophy double header LIVE and EXCLUSIVE on KommunityTV from 5.15pm.

Check the week-long Queensland Schoolboys draw BELOW.

“It’s a big game because both teams use it as an Old Boys Day, so the crowd and the atmosphere is definitely a lot bigger,” Keebra coach Peter Norman said.

“You want bragging rights and you want to win, but there is a bigger picture to the game than that.

“That’s the purpose behind it ... to keep that schoolboys community together.”

For the sake of mutual grounds, the match will be held at Pizzey Park with a 6:30pm kick off.

“It’s the biggest crowd of the year,” Norman said.

Norman said his Keebra side weren’t getting caught up in the theatrics of it all, instead keeping the same mentality that has steered them through the season.

“We’re just focused on our processes and trying to execute our goals, our individual roles within a team, and just playing our kind of football to get better every week,” he said.

“A big focus is building on our combinations and making sure everyone is aware of what their role is within a team environment.”

Relieving some of the pressure, Keebra will finish second on the ladder no matter the result.

“This is a really great opportunity ... because we can’t finish any lower than second regardless of the result against PBC,” he said.

“Win or lose it’s not going to have an impact on where we are on the ladder.

Keebra Park will have to keep an eye on Zane Harrison

“It’s a real good free shot for our boys, without any pressure, to play some of their best football yet this season.”

There are no strangers on the PBC roster, Norman having coached a number himself at representative level

“They’re an extremely talented side,” he said while pointing to the particularly dangerous duo of Sam Stephenson and Zane Harrison.

“They’ll be their two main players to watch, and we’re gonna have to make sure that we’re consistent with our efforts to shut them down, because they’re both quality players.

“Obviously we would love to beat them, and we’re going to do everything we can to try and beat them like we would with any other team.

“If we can we do what we want to do and play the kind of football we want to play, hopefully we’ll be on the right end of the scoreboard.”

Originally published as Live stream: Keebra Park face Palm Beach Currumbin in all-Gold Coast Langer Trophy showdown