September 1, 2017
A last-minute 34-28 victory by the Cherbourg Hornets on Saturday earned last year’s South Burnett premiers a ticket straight through to the 2017 Grand Final.
The Murgon Mustangs led for most of the Major Semi-Final, played at Cherbourg (see report below), but still have a another shot at Grand Final glory.
The Mustangs will play the Stags at Nanango on Saturday to decide the second spot in the Grand Final.
In the Minor Semi-Final, also played at Cherbourg last weekend, the Kingaroy Red Ants bowed out for 2017, going down 38-4 against the Nanango Stags.
The semi-finals for the junior grades were played on Saturday at Gayndah:
- U12s – Major Semi-Final – Murgon def. Cherbourg 32-12 (Murgon into Grand Final)
- U12s – Minor Semi-Final – Nanango def. Kingaroy – no score available
- U14s – Major Semi-Final – Chinchilla def. Kingaroy 38-28 (Chinchilla into Grand Final)
- U14s – Minor Semi-Final – Murgon def. Central Burnett 26-16
- U16s – Major Semi-Final – Nanango def. Cherbourg – no score available (Nanango into Grand Final)
- U16s – Minor Semi-Final – Kingaroy def. Chinchilla 28-18
The following Preliminary Finals will be played at Nanango on Saturday to determine which teams will be in the Grand Finals:
- 10:45am – U12s – Cherbourg v Nanango
- 1:00pm – U16s – Cherbourg v Kingaroy
- 2:30pm – A Grade – Murgon v Nanango
* * *
Major Semi-Final
A good crowd turned out at Cherbourg’s Jack O’Chin Oval last Saturday night to enjoy a balmy night of semi-finals football.
The Major Semi-Final featured a local derby between Cherbourg and Murgon, who both finished with 18 points on the ladder (although Cherbourg was ahead on for / against).
It was always going to be a tight and action-packed game, and neither side disappointed their fans.
Murgon started well with back-to-back tries by Chris Quinn and Arthur Saltner, taking the Mustangs into a quick 10-0 lead.
At half-time, Murgon was still in the lead but the Hornets had narrowed the gap, 16-12.
Half-way through the second half, Murgon was leading 28-12, but the Hornets weren’t about to quit.
Both sides tested each other’s defence and had frustrating disallowed try attempts.
Cherbourg broke through first with a try by Errol Simpson, followed by one by Kane Liddy, taking the scoreboard to Murgon 28, Cherbourg 22.
With eight minutes left on the clock, Fred Cobbo scored for the Hornets, and Lewis Hopkins’ conversion locked the scores at 28-all.
With four minutes to go, Cherbourg were again pressing the Murgon line, when the Mustangs were awarded a relieving penalty.
But then as the last minutes ticked down, Cherbourg regained possession. With less than 60 seconds left, Paddy Alberts broke the deadlock and put the Hornets into the lead for the first time during the game.
Lewis Hopkins kicked the extra points after the siren to take the final score to Cherbourg 34, Murgon 28.
Murgon tries were scored by Chris Quinn, Arthur Saltner, Jameel Sullivan, Stafford Saltner and Michael Giles. Jameel Sullivan kicked four goals.
Cherbourg tries were scored by Ryan Brown, Lewis Hopkins, Errol Simpson, Kane Liddy, Fred Cobbo and Paddy Alberts. Lewis Hopkins kicked five goals.
* * *
Minor Semi-Final
The Minor Semi-Final between third and fourth placegetters Nanango and Kingaroy was played first on the evening at Cherbourg.
Nanango’s Ashley Smallwood opened the Stags’ account not long after the opening whistle.
Kingaroy replied quickly via Karl Freeman and the scores were locked 4-all. Unfortunately for the Red Ants fans, these were the last points that Kingaroy would score.
The Red Ants enjoyed a mountain of possession – especially during the first half – but were unable to convert this pressure into points.
Nanango’s defence was also strong, keeping Kingaroy out and on at least one occasion stopping an almost certain try by holding the player up over the line.
Just before the half-time break, the Stags finally gained some possession which led directly to Patrick McCallum scoring.
At half-time, Nanango led 8-4.
The second half was all Stags, with six tries clocked up. And there could have been at least one more when a kick ahead with the tryline wide open was just too strong.
Kingaroy didn’t give up and almost scored themselves with 25 minutes left, but it just didn’t work out.
The final score was Nanango 38, Kingaroy 4.
This was Kingaroy’s last game for 2017, while Nanango will play Murgon this Saturday at Nanango.
Nanango tries were scored by Ashley Smallwood (2), Patrick McCallum, Kieran Harvey, Matthew Brown, Blake Harvey, Shane Argent and Clinton Harvey. Ashley Smallwood kicked three goalsl.
Kingaroy’s try was scored by Karl Freeman.
