Defense pays off as PNG Hunters maul Townsville Blackhawks 24 - 16

The Papua New Guinea SP Hunters defeated Townsville Blackhawks with 24 - 16 score  in round 23 of the Intrust Super Cup match played at Jack Manski Oval in Townsville this afternoon.

The Hunters showed why they are the competition leaders with strong defensive effort that shut out the Blackhawks huge amount of ball possession and attack  and  kept them scoreless in the second half.

The competition leaders wasted no time to put points on the scoreboard through Stargroth Amean on the 4th minute. Captain Boas converted the try and the Hunters took the early lead 6 - 0.

The Hunters strike again, this time through half-back Watson Boas who scored under the posts after a good ball off loads from the forwards. Boas added the extras to extend their lead to 12 - 0 .

On the 18th minute of the match, the home side replied with a converted  try through Carlin Anderson and trailed   12 - 6.  Hunters strike weapon Stargroth Amean was injured on the 22nd minute and was taken out of the field.

The Blackhawks scored again  through Paul Byrnes on the 29th minute to level the score at 12 all.  They took over the lead 16 - 12  from the Hunters with a try  through Jonathan Reuben on the 37th minute.

In the second half, the Blackhawks mounted huge pressure on the Hunters with  great advantage of  ball possession and attack. However, the Hunters goal line defense  was solid and defused the attack for the next 20 minutes of the second half.

On the 62th minute, the Hunters breathed a shy of relieve after center Israel Eliab chased a grubber kick from Boas and ground the ball perfectly to score. Boas added the extras and stole the lead again from the home side.

A penalty was awarded to the Hunters on the 68th minutes. Boas shot a  penalty goal to further extend the lead to 20 - 16.

The man of the moment, Israel Eliab scored again on the 70th minute to put his team ahead with 24 - 16 lead.  The home side threw everything at the Hunters in the dying minutes but the Hunters held on to win the game 24 - 16 at full-time.

Tries : (Blackhawks  3: Carlin ANDERSON (19m) Paul BYRNES (29m) Jonathon REUBEN (37m)
            (PNG Hunters: Stargroth AMEAN (4m) Watson BOAS (10m) Israel ELIAB (62m) Israel                                              ELIAB (70m)
Conversion: Anderson 2/ 3                           Boas  3/4