The Uni RL Qld Residents defeated the NSW Tertiary Students 22-18 in a hard fought match at Geoff King Motors Oval, Coffs Harbour, in the annul Tas Baitieri Tertiary/Uni Challenge Cup on Saturday 12 July 2014.
Played in perfect conditions on a warm winter afternoon, before a good sized crowd, the NSW side was the first to draw blood when second rower Shane Coppell crossed in the corner after 4 minutes. A sideline conversion from Steve Spilios put them in front 6-0 and it looked like the Blues bigger forward pack might dominate their maroon counterparts, but a poor completion rate gave Qld the opportunity to take the upper the hand an they posted 3 unconverted tries to go to the break 12-6 in front.
The first 20 minutes of the second half was a real arm wrestle, with the blues continuing to hand the ball back to the maroons and then muscling up in defence to hold out their attack. The NSW line could only take so much pressure before cracking and crack it did when, after 20 minutes Qld centre Kylan Lovai ran 90 metres to score and soon after his centre partner Brandon Black crossed to take his team to what looked like a 22-6 winning lead.
However, something seemed to click with the NSW attack and with less than 10 minutes left on the clock, Sean McKenzie crossed in the same corner twice and with Michael Zappia kicking both sideline conversions, suddenly the match was in the balance.
The final 4 minutes was gripping as the NSW side tried everything it could to break the Qld defence and the maroons held on grimly to eventually hold the blues out.
Man of the Match: Brendon Colley (Qld)
Qld Players Player: Brandon Black
NSW Player Player: Chris Thompson
Uni RL Qld Residents 22 (Tries: Brandon Black 2, Kylan Lovai, Mitch Chad, Kurt Dobbin, Goal: Lachlin Pill bt NSW Tertiary Students 18 (Tries: Sean McKenzie 2, Shane Coppell, Goals: Michael Zappia 2, Steve Spilios )
