Gregory Terrace at Brisbane Grammar (17-15)
TheKing
Gregory Terrace kept their season alive with an important away win against Spring Hill rivals Brisbane Grammar, 25-18.
Poor discipline and handling from Terrace in the first half helped BGS to an 11-5 halftime lead, before coming-from-behind in the second to outscore their hosts 20-8 to secure a first win of the season for Terrace.
Both sides were faced with the challenge of fighting complacency after recording above-and-beyond performances against Southport and Churchie respectively in round one.
On a rare windless day at Northgate, Terrace enjoyed the weight of possession and territory in both halves but struggled to execute in the first.
Missing star ‘spine’ players like representative halfback Reuben Wall, flyhalf Isaac Lucas and fullback Quillian Pritchard-Malaki affected the chemistry of the back-line, but once nerves settled Terrace was able to apply pressure on the Grammar defensive line.
Splash plays from star winger Will Eadie helped Terrace to score two impressive long range tries.
Terrace’s Director of Rugby Tyron Mandrusiak said: “It was good for the boys to win today.
“Obviously (they played) a close game last week against Churchie, but they started to be more patient in the end and got away with the win.”
“It’s a hard road, and there’s 7 games to go. First XV Rugby is a tough competition. They’ve done well” he said.
Brisbane Grammar’s forward pack were significantly undersized relative to their opposition, but covered these shortcomings with skilful link and support play.
Terrace conceded an early penalty goal to fullback Paddy Hogan before the backline created something from nothing.
A smart box-kick from halfback Lachie Kirk caught BGS out of position on the left wing, allowing Will Eadie to catch and run away untouched for the first try of the day.
Brisbane Grammar captain Michael Wolstenholme went down in back-play soon after with a knee injury, limping off the field on his own weight.
His side rallied around loose forward Fraser McReight, charging down a clearance kick for openside Ben Philips to chase down in-goal for the lead.
A second penalty to Paddy Hogan increased the lead shortly after.
Terrace dominated possession and territory for the remainder of the half, but were consistently foiled at the final hurdle.
After ten-minutes camped on the BGS goal-line number eight Jack Lutvey powered over from the base of the scrum.
A Jordan Rogers intercept in midfield sparked Terrace’s next opportunity, with the ball finding it’s way into the hands of Will Eadie.
After beating several Eadie drew and passed inside for former Brisbane Grammar student Matt Forsyth to dot down against his old team-mates.
Queensland halfback Campbell Halliday was helped off the field after a nasty head-clash, and replacement James Colwell was impressive in his short cameo.
Oli Fison scored a try in minutes remaining to bring the score within seven, but that would be BGS’ final shout.
Brisbane Grammar loose forward Fraser McReight was the standout candidate for Man of the Match despite being on the losing side of the encounter.
McReight said: “We didn’t execute compared to last weekend – we came out strong against TSS, but this week we fell in to the trap of thinking “It’s just Terrace, not a rugby dominant school like TSS.” We thought we could rest on our laurels.
“We’ve made a vow to not put in another horrible performance. This week we’ll try our best to put this performance behind us.”
Brisbane Grammar must face up to Nudgee at Northgate in Round Three.
With one loss already on the season, Terrace cannot afford to lose to Southport at Stade de Tennyson on Saturday.
