By Andrew O’brien
In one of the closest grand finals in Toowoomba Rugby League history the Warwick Cowboys main rivals all year, the Gatton Hawks have lifted the trophy, winning 24-20 in extra time over Valleys Roosters at Clive Berghofer Stadium on Saturday night.
The scores were locked at 20-all at fulltime with Hawks winger Cameron Bundock scoring in the second minute of extra time to give Gatton a famous victory.
Valleys Roosters started the grand final the better with Denzel Burns and Todd White scoring in back-to-back sets to make the score 12-0 after 13 minutes.
The Roosters did have the momentum for a lot of the first half and they deserved to be in front.
It was a brutal, physical affair all game. Not one player was giving an inch in an absorbing match. The match settled down but the physicality did not wane.
Player of the match and the John McDonald Medallist Gatton’s half back Joel Hughes scored the first of his two tries in the 27th minute as the Hawks grinded their way back into the match. Hughes chimed in to the backline to score close to the posts to get the Hawks back into the match at 6-12.
Just three minutes later Hughes put a clever kick in behind Roosters line for Mene Bakabaka to score and level the scores 12-12 with 10 minutes remaining in the half.
Just before halftime, Dwayne Duncan kicked a penalty to get the Roosters into the sheds 14-12 in front.
This tough contest continued after the break with end to end play the normal. As the game went on the meter gains from each side were more opening up the match.
In the 53th minute, that man Joel Hughes again finished off a good Gatton raid when he scored to get the Hawks in front for the first time 18-14.
Valleys dug deep and as the clock wound down Cory McGrady was trying everything to lift his side. He was tremendous and with 15 minutes remaining he set up Josh Keoller to return the Roosters to the lead 20-18.
The final 15 minutes was not for the faint hearted and the game was a credit to both team’s young men who put on one hell of a display. After a chance to level the game Gatton opted to run the ball but Valleys courageous defence held firm.
In a compliment to Valleys defence, Gatton kicked a penalty with five minutes remaining to level the scores 20-20. Then in the final minute Hughes attempted to win the game with a field goal but the drop kick went wide making the game go into extra time.
Valleys kicked off the overtime with their chase excellent and they kept Hawks in their ten-metre area for the first three tackles. But good hit ups from the Hawks allowed Tom Luhrman to break a few tackles on the last tackle inside their 50 metres. Luhrman found Hawks five eight Travis Turnbull who scooted through the smallest of gaps to sprint well into Valley’s half. He linked with winger Cameron Bundock who scored match winning try in the south western corner to win an epic Grand Final for Gatton 24-20 after 82 minutes.
Gatton 24 (Joel Hughes 2, Mene Bakabaka, Cameron Bundock tries Leonard Thomas 3 goals Shannon Hicks goals) defeated Valleys 20 (Denzel Burns, Todd White, Josh Keoller tries Dwayne Duncan 3, Cory McGrady goals)
