August 15, 2013
An in-form Nanango Stags will play Wondai Wolves at Blackbutt this Saturday in the preliminary semi-final of the South Burnett Premier League competition.
The winner of this game will face Cherbourg in the Grand Final, to be played at Murgon on August 24.
Nanango had a week off last Saturday after Blackbutt forfeited their knockout semi-final which was due to be played at Wondai.
In the major semi-final, also played at Wondai, the Cherbourg Hornets defeated Wondai 48-22 in a less-than-convincing display after being dominant all season.
The first half of the match was painful to watch with a dozen scrums caused by neither side being able to hold onto the ball for six tackles.
Cherbourg also had two failed try attempts after being pressured by Wondai defenders.
Wondai’s Luke Hedges finally broke the drought after 25 minutes, converting his own try and taking the Wolves to a 6-0 lead.
But after yet another scrum, Cherbourg’s Nigel Williams crossed, and Fred Aubrey’s conversion evened the scores.
After being held-up over the line with 18 minutes left in the half, Wondai’s Jameel Sullivan scored. Hedges’ conversion took Wondai to 12 points.
Cherbourg scored twice more in the first half (Fred Aubrey, Cyril Georgetown) to take the half-time score to 18-12.
The second half was a better display by the Hornets, with tries to Mark Saltner, Cyril Georgetown, Fred Aubrey, Nigel Williams and Fred Aubrey before Wondai troubled the scorer again.
With eight minutes left on the clock, Sullivan scored his second for the Wolves which Hedges duly converted. This was followed five minutes later with Hedges himself scoring in the corner.
