THE Jamberoo Superoos and Warilla-Lake South Gorillas have produced one of the games of the season before the latter re-confirmed themselves as genuine premiership threats after they emerged with a 30-26 win at Kevin Walsh Oval on Sunday.
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In a highly competitive match where both sides scored five tries, the lead changed four times in the final 10 minutes of the first half, to keep spectators entertained.
The Superoos were made to pay for some poor handling during the match which led directly to two tries - with the first coming in just the second minute when a fumble close to their line saw rampaging Gorillas prop Guy Rosewarn charge over from close range from the ensuing play.
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Brisbane landed the conversion and two minutes later a close-range penalty for an 8-nil lead.
It didn't take the Superoos long to reply when in the 13th minute a sustained attack led to five-eighth Mark Asquith spotting a gap from dummy-half and forcing his way over.
Kurt Field converted to close the gap to just two.
The visitors went close shortly afterwards when Brisbane sent rookie Liam Henry over, only to see the pass called forward.
Jamberoo made the most of the let-off when, in the 30th minute, a sharp pass from dummy-half from James Asquith created space for his brother Luke to dive over under the posts.
Field converted to give the home side the lead for the first time, 12-8.
Great vision from Brisbane and blinding speed from super-sub Tyrone Roberts led to the Gorillas retaking the lead in the 34th minute after Roberts was first to a clever grubber-kick and Brisbane converted for a 14-12 advantage.
The Superoos were then able to hit back when, with half-time approaching, they knocked back a close-range penalty opportunity, instead swinging the ball wide for centre Jarryd Smith to run off Field and score in the corner for the home side to go to 'oranges' with a 16-14 lead.
The second half was barely underway when a great run and even better pass from Warilla lock Oscar Fitzpatrick found Roberts trailing through and he easily outpaced the cover defence to score under the posts for Brisbane to again convert.
Barely two minutes later, on the back of a penalty, the Gorillas were again on the attack and captain and halfback Blair Grant spotted a narrow gap to sprint over and despite the missed conversion.
Warilla were well on top at 24-14.
The pace of the game was taking its toll as both sides were finding it harder to make ground and were relying on penalties and dropped balls to gain momentum.
However, the game came alive again in the 66th minute when a sweeping left-side attack from Jamberoo gave centre Jake Clarke room to dive over out wide and Field landed an excellent conversion to put the Superoos in touching distance at 24-22.
Inexplicably the home side knocked on from the restart, gifting the Gorillas possession and it was again Rosewarn who used his size to crash through the tiring defence and Brisbane added the extras to regain the eight-point advantage at 30-22.
The thrills didn't finish there as with four minutes remaining a long pass from Field sent winger Ben Barnard flying over in the corner to give his side a chance - as the visitors were forced to finish the game with 12 players due to their injury toll.
Then Barnard almost pulled off a miracle with less than two minutes on the clock, when a brilliant chip and regather was somehow defused by a desperate Gorillas defence.
Fitzpartick, Brisbane, Rosewarn and livewire hooker Sam Hooper were among the standouts for the winners, while the Asquith brothers, Jake Clarke and Corey Grigg were solid for the Superoos.
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