Seasoned Litchfield Bears keep their cool to pull off 28-12 win over the Darwin Brothers in the second round of the 2020 NRL NT men’s season

AN experienced Litchfield contingent kept their heads on during a heated second half to emerge 28-12 victors over a fired-up Brothers outfit in Round 2 of the NRL NT 2020 Quitline A-grade premiership on Saturday night.

Bears’ Sam McAuley had another big performance against the Darwin Brothers in round two. Picture: GLENN CAMPBELL

AN experienced Litchfield contingent kept their heads on during a heated second half to emerge 28-12 victors over a fired-up Brothers outfit in Round 2 of the NRL NT 2020 Quitline A-grade premiership on Saturday night.

The youthful Brothers were the stronger of the two sides in the opening half, scoring twice through Drew Tobin and Moses Niki, however, wayward kicking let them down.

A Bears’ try to Brody Race came between those four-pointers and another classy kicking performance from Matt Goodfellow would further punish the Brothers’ mistakes from the tee and in general play.

Litchfield emerged a different animal in the second half, turning their defensive pressure into a decisive offence that only became more open as their opponents lost players to the bin after a period of scrappy play.

David Jacobson (two tries), PJ Costello and Aaron Barnes all crossed the white paint for Bears, utilising their player advantage to create overlaps in the Brethren defence.

Brothers halfback Tyrone Nona scored one of his own on his league debut, though it proved too late as another goal kick went astray.

Goodfellow felt his side’s coolness – once the game turned scrappy – was what got his team over the line in a tough encounter.

“It was a tough match that one, but that second half we were looking to play some footy up the middle and they lost their way a little,” Goodfellow told the NT News.

“Brothers are a hard team to beat when they keep their heads. But we were better at keeping our heads and you can’t win games when you have multiple people in the sin bin.

“Jason Mackrow at halfback set up a couple of nice tries for us and Sam McAuley changed the game for us.”

Brothers coach Leon Cleal was pleased with the strong efforts from his young side throughout the game.

“I was happy with the effort shown by everyone – it was second to none particularly considering we have a number of players out,” Cleal said.

“It was a bit scrappy but that happens in a game of footy and we missed our kicks which will be an area we will be looking to sharpen up.

“We have a measure of where we are now having played the two best sides in the competition.

“The likes of Caleb Niki, Daniel Warren and captain Aaron Pollard all played really well.”

Meanwhile, Nightcliff remain unbeaten after defeating a battling South Darwin side 40-16, with Tim Muhammad standing out for the Dragons after scoring the opening try.

Coach Reg Rose was happy with the win but noted improvements would need to be made before the Dragons faced the top sides.

“Happy to get the win but it was a scrappy performance and you don’t win games against the better sides with that much dropped ball,” Rose said.

“Our more-experienced players stepped up when they needed to and we pushed through in the middle of the field.”

Palmerston pulled away from Sharks in the second half to secure a 44-22 win over their rivals at Goodline Park.