Vikings View - R13 vs Queanbeyan
Queanbeyan Whites earn home final
Andrew Johnston
Reigning premiers The Queanbeyan Whites have secured a top two finish in this year's John I Dent Cup with a hard fought 25-10 win over the Tuggeranong Vikings at Campese Field on Saturday.
The win saw Queanbeyan go nine points clear of the third placed Vikings who have now failed to beat the competitions top two sides, Royals and Queanbeyan this season.
The Whites were lifted to victory on the back of excellent performances from midfield duo Johnny Kevin and rising star Robbie Coleman who combined well in midfield throughout the match.
Queanbeyan coach Wayne Southwell was full of praise for both players following their impressive display.
"They're both great ball players and Robbie's turn of speed is obviously something we appreciate to have to back, he's definitely a quality player," he said.
It was always going to be a tough ask for Vikings against a Queanbeyan side unbeaten in its last nine starts and a win looked even more unlikely when Brumbies fly half Christian Lealiifano was ruled out prior to kickoff.
The visitors however, held their own in an entertaining first forty minutes that saw three tries disallowed before the sides went into half-time locked up at 3-3.
Queanbeyan started the second half at a frenetic pace with two tries to Josh Hastings and Kevin in the 41st and 50th minutes giving the home side a 15-3 advantage.
With the possibility of a home final slipping from its grasp, Tuggeranong worked its way back into the match, only to be repeatedly let down by poor handling.
The Vikings finally converted an opportunity when Ed Stubbs crossed with 10 minutes to play, briefly narrowing the deficit to just five points.
Before a penalty goal to Kevin and a try right on full time to Giles Cunningham sealed the win.
The victory, following on from a win over Royals in round 10 means Queanbeyan has now beaten both of its main title rivals in recent weeks.
Southwell said he was happy with the position of his side going into the finals.
"The team has ten different faces from the Grand Final of last year so the guys from last year have led well and the youngsters coming through have stepped up so I'm very proud of them at this stage of the year," he said.
"Given we've lost a couple of key players through injury for the season I'm very pleased with our form but obviously there are some key games still to come."
Vikings 1st XV 10 ( E. Stubbs; J. Te Huia 1G 1PG) Queanbeyan 25
PLAYERS PLAYER - SIONE TAULA
Vikings 2nd XV 15 (B. Taueki, O. Ramsden; E. Wessels 1G 1PG) Queanbeyan 12
PLAYERS PLAYER - ISIKELE RATILEVU
Vikings Colts 46 ( J. Totini, T. Tapara, JP. Mynhardt 2, L. Cargill, C. Wilkinson 2; C. Wilkinson 4G 1PG) Queanbeyan 12
PLAYERS PLAYER - JP MYNHARDT
Vikings 3rd XV 20 (H. Garrett, A. Dickson, A. Dickson 2G 2PG) Queanbeyan 14
PLAYERS PLAYER - RICHARD JOYES
Vikings 4th XV 50 (L. Dempsey, S.Cook, R. Rauporo 2, J. Gibson 2, S. French, K. Bala; Y. Yoshida 1G, L. Kessy 4G) Queanbeyan 14
PLAYERS PLAYER - JAMES REWI-WETINI
Vikings Brown Snakes 17 (J. McHugh, J. Sayle; J. Sayle 2G 1PG) Yass 10
PLAYERS PLAYER - JASON SAYLE
PRESENTATION NIGHT REMINDER:
A reminder that presentation night is Friday 18th of September. It is a 6.30 for 7.00 start, it will be held in the Auditorium again and the dress is Lounge Suit for the men and Cocktail for the ladies. Money isnt due in for a couple of weeks, but if i could ask you all to start oraganising tables of 10.
The cost of the tickets will be determined shortly and partners are encourage to come along.
If you require anymore infop at this stage, please call me in the office on 62095514
2009 leading try scorers:
After a great first half of the year, Grant Lukins has well and truly applied the handbrake to his try scoring feats, although he should be comended in scoring 7 at this stage he is more then likely to start sinking faster then the Titanic did, after it hit the iceberg.
Grant Lukins - 7
John Gibson - 7
Thomas Blencowe - 7
Tim Curran - 7
Nikki Ayers - 8
Simon French - 8
Ed Stubbs - 10
Andrew Goodall - 11
Jake Knight - 11
Andrew Dickson - 14
Merchandise:
There are still some tracksuit pants left for sale and leading up to the finals we have extra white polo shirts that will be on sale at the Red Army.
When your at the Rede Army buying your polo shirts, be sure to check out any specials that might be on in relation to combo packs.