TIGERS TRICKS TRUMP BROTHERS HARD HITS
by Jack McHugh
The Easts Tigers A grade team sharpened their claws on Saturday evening with a devastating victory over the hard hitting Logan Brothers at Tap Out Energy Stadium.
The win puts them in a prime position to secure a home game in the finals.
A meticulously executed performance from the Tigers was too much to handle for the hard hitting Logan Brothers.
After mounting pressure following a lifting tackle on the home side Jake Hargraves opened the scoring in the eighth minute as he cut through a hole under the posts.
Brendan Downey wasn’t prepared to let the momentum stop there as he made a break down the sideline before passing back on the inside to Maeli Seve for another six points.
Easts defended valiantly to hold their lead with many opportunities snuffed by the boys in orange however the Logan brothers finally struck back in the 23rd minute.
That try proved to be the spark for a much needed gear change for the Tigers; from that point the momentum was heavily in their favour.
The Brothers pure aggression provided plenty of highlights; the first of which came from Tony Chong as he stopped a seemingly certain line break from Maeli Seve with a shot that, while questionable by NRL standards, was plainly impressive in the lower grades.
The Tigers headed into the break with an 18 point lead with seamless ball play providing another two tries in the final 10 minutes.
The big hits continued in the second half with Terry Kepu running like a bulldozer and the Tigers decided to return the favour with a few strong tackles of their own.
Maeli Seve’s clinical performance was soured by a coat hanger tackle on Ono So’Oialo that landed him on report but saved a try in the process.
Despite So’Oialo taking multiple hits throughout the game he was one of the stand-out players for the Brothers with his electric footwork.
The highlight of the match came in the 65th minute when a Seve offload put Mackenzie Reid through a gap who then put a grubber through for Downey to pick up his second try of the day.
Despite a heavy score line, The Logan Brothers put on a decent performance that was trumped by the Tigers’ red hot form.
EASTS TIGERS 46 (Maeli Seve 2, Brandon Downey 2, Jake Hargreaves 2, Leon Ellia-Niukore, Mackenzie Reid tries; Brandon Downey 7 goals) Defeated LOGAN BROTHERS 6 (Pulotu Taukatelata try; Ono So’Oialo goal) at Tapout Energy Stadium.
