Super Saturday 1 saw all the teams who made finals travel to Dalby for what was a spectacular day of rugby.
In the A grade elimination final the Condamine Cods faced the Toowoomba Rangers, a team they seem to have had a hoodoo against this year not being able to beat them in any of their encounters The Rangers came out of the blocks firing, scoring two tries in the opening 10 minutes to see them lead the Cods 14 – 0. The Cods then hit back with a try of their own as the game then became more of a physical battle with both teams tightening attack and defence. This saw a fair period of the first half in a toe to toe battle before the Rangers sneaked a penalty goal in before the halftime whistle to head to the sheds with a 17 – 5 lead.
Again the Rangers came out of the blocks fast and lifted the tempo of the game, looking dangerous in attack and taking every opportunity with ball in hand. They piled on another three tries to make their lead 36 – 5 with plenty of time left in the game. The Cods made some changes needing to be more direct and that they did as the Cods fought back and scored two tries to narrow the lead to 36 – 17 with 10 minutes to go. Unfortunately for the Cods it was too little too late as the Rangers sealed the victory with another try to make the full time score 43 – 17 and knocking the Cods out of the finals series.
In the A grade major qualifying final the Dalby Wheatmen battled it out against third placed USQ in a cracking game of footy. Both teams started well and looked to play a territorial game of rugby with both 10s looking to pin their opposition deep in their own half. The game then began to open up as both teams looked to chance their hand and it was the Wheatmen’s Patrick McVeigh who opened the scoring with a lovely in and away on his opposite winger to streak away and score in the corner.
The game continued with both sides throwing numerous attacking raids on their opposition. USQ looked to have the upper hand on the Dalby boys making a number of breaks down the edges but Dalby’s cover defence proved to be vital as they kept the uni students scoreless going into the halftime break with a 13 – 0 lead.
USQ were the ones who shot out of the blocks early in the second half as they scored a try through winger Martin Van Staden and slotted a penalty goal just minutes later creeping back to just a five-point ball game 13 – 8. Unfortunately for USQ that’s where it ended for their points as the Wheatmen’s defence tightened up and no one could get through. The classy Dalby outfit began to pick apart the USQ defensive line and ran in three unanswered tries walking away with a 34 – 8 victory and booking themselves a spot to take on the Emus next weekend.
