By DAVID ARNOLD
LAST Saturday saw The Noosa Pirates travel south to take on long-time rivals Nambour in another match-of-the-day situation.
Both sides needed to win to stay in finals contention, and it showed with no “beg your pardons” throughout the game.
Nambour started well and raced to an 8-0 lead after just nine minutes of play, but the Pirates didn’t bow down to the pressure and some good lead-up work was rewarded when the “Raging Pom” Alex Clare scored in the 15th minute.
With goal kicker Lauchie Gladman’s radar firing on all cylinders, the Pirates bridged the gap to just two points. When big forward Jon Broad crashed over the try line in the 21st minute, harmony appeared to be restored for the Pirates and they went into the long break leading 12-8.
The second half didn’t disappoint the hardy supporters that travelled to watch the game. Nambour hit back hard and led 14-12 with 30 minutes to play.
Both sides threatened to score, yet defences stood resilient until fullback Aaron Locke calmly picked the ball up on his own 10 metre line and sprinted 90 metres to score under the posts.
Lauchie Gladman converted to give The Pirates an 18-14 lead with 10 minutes to play.
When 5’8″ Hayden Trask was sin-binned for something that left both sides’ lines befuddled, a victory to either team suddenly became very real, but the Pirates held firm and showed great maturity in containing the opposition over the closing minutes to win 18 points to 14, cementing the Pirates in the top 8.
This Saturday, the Pirates travel north to Kandanga to take on the Pomona/Cooran Cutters at 1.30pm in a game that promises to be “one for the ages” with many former Pirates suiting up for Cutters.
There will be certainly no love lost between these two fierce rivals, so pack your picnic hamper, throw in a blanket and an odd beverage and head up the highway to witness what could be the turning point for both sides this season.
The U18s are in the middle of a well-earned break, but special thanks to Jake Bullen who played with the Big Boys against Nambour and acquitted himself very nicely.
