Litchfield Bears surge into the 2020 NRL NT grand final with win over Palmerston Raiders
LITCHFIELD Bears put themselves in the driver’s seat for a third NRL NT A-grade title in as many years with a tightly contested 25-18 win over Palmerston in the major semi-final
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LITCHFIELD Bears put themselves in the driver’s seat for a third NRL NT A-grade premiership in as many years with a tightly contested 25-18 win over Palmerston in the major semi-final.
Palmerston had the better of the Fred’s Pass based side through the season but the Bears forwards, particularly Dillan Vanderburg, found another level in the semi-final.
Litchfield were first to score after ten minutes of back and forth with Clint Chettle crossing over after chasing a big kick from Matt Goodfellow.
Palmerston were quick to reply not letting themselves get pushed out of the contest with Brad Hansen surging through the Bears’ defence to put his side on the board.
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However, the Bears would go on to dominate the remainder of the opening half scoring three times without response through Luke Beatty, Robert Campbell and Daniel Gallow.
Raiders leapt right into the second half with Hansen once more the scorer off the back of several strong phases, and one to Anthony Orrell not long after.
Both sides looked on for a score on numerous occasions throughout the remainder of the half but penalties and strong defence kept scores at bay.
With points hard to come by and the sides still close the Bears opted for a penalty kick with Goodfellow slotting the ball through the posts to put his side six points ahead with five minutes left.
Goodfellow would be in the scoring again only minutes later with a drop goal putting the game to bed, a move which captain Luke Mahood put down to game management.
“To come away with the win with no injuries was exactly what we were after,” Mahood told the Sunday Territorian.
“To be in the grand final for the third year in a row, it’s great. The boys have been there before with a couple of new blokes which we will make sure are ready for it.
“It came down to good game management in the end there getting down their end to force the penalty though we did make it hard for ourselves at times with a few knock-ons.
“We just wanted it more and our entire forward pack went over and above the level they normally do.”
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Litchfield will now move on the grand final while the previously undefeated Palmerston will head to the preliminary final.
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