sp hunters

Tries to Wellington Albert, Adex Wera and Israel Eliab pushed the Hunters to a 22-0 lead at half-time.

The home side hit back with two tries after the 60 minute mark with points to Dane Phillips (62m) and Mitch Carpenter (66m).

This brought the score to 22-12 in favour of the visitors.

But the Hunters had enough to take the game away, striking twice with four pointers to captain and five-eighth Ase Boas (73) and Bland Abavu (77) to seal the win.

(File picture)

Adex Wera will take position in the centres in place of the suspended Willie Minoga who will serve out his last week after being cited for a dangerous throw in round nine.

Another change sees Wellington Albert starting at prop after Henry Wan Noki was omitted for not returning to camp and attending training.

Gahuna Silas, Rhadley Brawa, Enock Maki and Moses Meninga will all start off the bench.

After nine rounds, the Hunters have accrued 14 points - from seven wins and two losses, with a points for and against of 54.

The top 6 are: SP Hunters (14), Easts Tigers (13), Redcliffe Dolphins (12), Townsville Blackhawks (12), Sunshine Coast Falcons (11), Souths Logan Magpies (10).

Coach of the Hunters, Michael Marum said last weekend’s 26-10 win over Northern Pride came from a good effort from his team.

“The win was a good way to end the first nine rounds of the competition.

The ‘freight train’ Minoga had the crowd of 6, 738 on their feet in celebration after only the 2^nd minute of play when he crossed over the line for his first of the match.

Captain Ase Boas converted the try giving the Hunters a 6-0 lead.

Boas made it 10-0 in the 26^th minute when he dummied and stepped into a gap to run forty metres to score on the wing.

These were the only points from the first half.

A penalty right in front in the opening minutes of the second half gave the Hunters an opportunity to extend their lead.

Wera was placed on report for a dangerous throw during last weekend's round eight match against Burleigh Bears.

The judiciary advised Wera through a teleconference late on Thursday afternoon that he has been repeating this offence for the past three seasons and needed to correct his tackling technique.

Wera entered an early guilty plea and was suspended for one match.

Coach Michael Marum said he will name a replacement for Wera from his extended 20 man squad.

The Hunters will take on Northern Pride this afternoon at 3pm at the National Football Stadium.

Paul Wawa has been called up to the starting side to replace Karo Kauna Jnr, while Stanton Albert and Moses Meninga who are both returning from injury have been named on the bench in the 20-man squad.

Last weekend’s four try hero, Adex Wera who was placed on report for a dangerous throw has been cleared and will take his centre position with Bland Abavu on the wing and Stargroth Amean at fullback.

The 20-man squad is:

The Hunters were in trouble three minutes into the round eight match for the Kokoda Cup when Kurtis Rowe crossed over to score.

Keanu Te Kiri then added the two points to bring the Bears out to a 6-0 lead.

But the combination of Ase Boas and Wera put the Hunters right back in the contest, with two tries to Wera in the space of five minutes.

The first came in the 11^th minute from an inside ball to a charging Wera, and the second through a chip kick over the defence for a flying Wera to catch and score right before the dead ball line.

Their 12-10 win over the weekend brought the Hunters up to ten competition points, from five wins and two losses.

The Redcliffe Dolphins, Souths Logan Magpies and Hunters are all tied on ten points apiece.

A points for and against of two has kept the Hunters at bay in fifth spot, compared to the Dolphins (73) and Magpies (66).

The top 6:

Sunshine Coast Falcons (11), Easts Tigers (11), Redcliffe Dolphins (10), Souths Logan Magpies (10), SP Hunters (10), Townsville Blackhawks (8).

Two tries and a penalty was enough to give the Hunters the win over the competition leaders in a low scoring affair.

“I think we dropped eight balls in the first half and didn’t complete our sets well. Our kicking game wasn’t that good,” said Marum.

Marum added there were some positives from the win, one of which was the defensive effort that the Hunters put up for the full 80 minutes.

“It was always going to be a low scoring game. There are a lot of things we’ve taken out from this and we'll work on them. But I think we defended well all throughout the game.

It was a close game riddled with errors from both sides.

The visitors were first on the board in the 23rd minute after Moses Pangai pounced on the ball to score, after an error made by Stargroth Amean from a Christian Hazard kick. 

The kick from Joshua Beehag right from the sideline was good enough, sailing between the posts to make it 6-0.

In his first game back for the Hunters this season, Wartovo Puara Jr. led the Hunters right back in the game, forcing a lineout to build some pressure on the opposition.