Top seeds the Southern Suns have defeated 2nd seeds Brisbane City Cobras 6-5 in the final of the 20’s Girls division in the X-Blades National Youth Championships at Coffs Harbour.
The match was a heated affair, with a player from both teams being sin binned midway through the second half.
Both teams were undefeated throughout the course of the tournament but the Suns proved too strong on the day.
Jess McCall opened the scoring for the Suns in the 6th minute but the Cobras were quick to reply, scoring through Kelly Jones in the 8th minute to equal the score.
The Suns had lots of possession close to their line in the first half, with several sets of six and lots of penalties.
They were able to take advantage of this field position, with Leah Hayes scoring another touchdown for the Suns midway through the first half.
The Cobras were quick to retaliate however, making plenty of metres in attack and Mel Henare made the score 2-2 after 11 minutes.
Desperate defence by the Suns prevented the Cobras from taking the lead, and Madison Absolum put the girls from southern NSW in front again just before halftime. The Suns went to the halftime break leading 3-2.
The Cobras were able to manage several sets of six in their opposition’s territory at the start of the second half, but the Suns defence held strong.
The Suns Cleo Virgona scored 5 minutes into the second half after a great run by co-captain Ashleigh Dobbins.
Tension flared in the 7th minute when the Suns Cara Zarenski and the Cobras Jaya Callinan were involved in a tussle close to the Suns line and were consequently both sin binned for their involvement.
Brittney Becks’ try in the 14th minute for the Cobras brought them back into the game, but it was a case of too little too late for the Brisbane girls after the Suns Stephanie Jackson scored in the set of six after the tap.
Ashleigh Dobbins added a try to the Suns tally in the 16th minute to take the score to 6-3.
Two late tries to Cobras Mel Fainges was not enough for the Cobras as the Suns took the match 6-5.
