By DAVID ARNOLD
NOOSA PIRATES
LAST Saturday 21 May saw the Noosa Pirates travel North up the Bruce Highway to take on Gympie in a must-win game for both teams.
With some key players missing from the Pirates’ line-up, the quality of the depth that coach Scott Christensen had available was to be severely tested.
There was little to worry about as Noosa took an early lead thanks to their coach who scored after just five minutes of play. Gympie hit back hard and led by ten points to six after 18 minutes.
Nathan Roon was back in the line-up after a holiday of sorts and when he thundered over the line in the 22nd minute the score was tied at ten points all.
Gympie, to their credit played with new-found passion and this was rewarded when they again took the lead in the 26th minute to lead 16 points to twelve at half time.
If the Pirates were going to take the points in this game changes had to be made. Utility player Aaron Locke came from the bench in the second half and scored in the 47th minute to give the Pirates a 18 to16 advantage.
Two tries in ten minutes, firstly to Seaton Reid and when Scott Christensen scored his second try of the day, the Pirates looked safe leading 30 points to 16.
Not to be denied Gympie scored once again to cut the lead to just eight points with ten minutes to play.
Full-back Ben Hayes sealed the win for the Noosa Pirates when he scored right on the full time siren to signal a 34 point to 22 win for the Pirates.
Satisfied with the win coach Scott Christensen has a couple of injury worries to key players, but expects those boys to be available this week.
As the Pirates continue their rise up the ladder, and with a healthy number of players available, selection will be testing to say the least.
This week sees the Noosa Pirates travel to Kawana to take on the Dolphins in what promises to be a very exciting game. Kick-off is at 5pm Saturday so get down to Kawana and cheer your team on to victory.
The Under 18s had the weekend off but face up to a Coolum side this Friday night (27 May) at Pirate Park at 7pm. Any changes to the time of this fixture will be posted on the Noosa Pirates website so stay tuned.
See you at the footy, go Pirates!
