Sport
3 September, 2024
Gladiators book grand final spot
IN what turned out to be a nail biter, Mareeba Gladiators Under 19s claimed victory over the Ivanhoes Knights 24-20 to clinch their spot in the grand final next Saturday.
In hot conditions, the Gladiators started quickly, opening their account a few minutes into the game, notching up a converted try.
The boys looked sharp and were willing to throw the ball around, peppering the try line before front rower Narason Moorcroft-Kose went over for his second try of the half.
Ball handling errors by Ivanhoes gave the Gladiators the advantage and allowed lock Gabriel Tunimakubu to run a try in right under the goal posts, allowing an easy conversion and taking the scoreline to 18-0 where it stayed until the half time siren.
Ivanhoes hit back in the second half, scoring a try just a few minutes in, then another after Mareeba gave them a penalty, to take the score to 18-10.
Moorcroft-Kose really put the hard work in, gaining good metres for his team but a penalty in favour of Ivanhoes at the 55-minute mark allowed them to cross the try line again and convert, turning the game into a nail biter with the score at 18-16.
Fullback Kyan Sheppard produced a try-saving tackle to stop Ivanhoes scoring again, and despite some good defence by Mareeba, the Knights broke through and notched up their fourth try to give them the lead for the first time in the match, 20-18.
Mareeba had not scored a point in the second half at that stage but a ball handling error from the Knights gave the Gladiators exactly what they needed for Tunimakubu to score their fourth try with only four minutes to go.
A conversion by Tyrone Williams (the third that day) pushed the Gladiators score to 24-20.
The Mareeba Gladiator’s coach Bronson Ryan highlighted that ill-discipline and effort issues played a role that almost cost them their chance at a grand final.
“Ivanhoes came back out in the second half with a new game plan that upset our boys a bit and discipline played a big factor in the back end of that game, allowing them to steal the lead from us at one point near the end.
“Our ill-discipline and straying from our gameplan really made it hard for us, but it was a good challenge for the boys actually,” said Bronson.
“I couldn’t fault the boys in the first half and we just fell away due to effort, but once they settled and knew their task, they did it, and that showed a lot of character I think.”
With both teams scoring four tries each, the conversions played an important role in determining a winner. Ivanhoes only made two from four attempts while Mareeba didn’t miss one, leaving them victorious by four points.
“I think Noah and Tyrone’s kicking game got us over the line there, Tyrone’s a great goal kicker and Noah’s kicking game in general is very good, he puts up some good bombs and we usually get rewarded off of them.”
A stand-out player in the Gladiators’ narrow win over the Ivanhoes was Mareeba’s Narason Moorcroft-Kose who scored two tries and terrorised the Ivanhoes defence all game making an impressive amount of run metres.
“I’ve been very, very impressed with Narason this year, he really started to come into his own in the lead up to the semi’s and he’s having a good run and enjoying his footy and I’m enjoying having him.
“He takes it upon himself to take on that leadership and he makes those good metres which takes some pressure off Tyrone and the other forwards.”
The Mareeba Gladiators will take on the Cairns Kangaroos in the U19 grand final held at Barlow Park this Saturday at 3:40pm.
“Our biggest goal is to make sure we’re competing and we’re not buying into ill-discipline and to just make sure we’re putting in the effort as a team,” said Bronson.
