Burleigh Bears vs Western Clydesdales HPC Round 16 Game Report โ๐ผ Michael Nunn
The secret to a long happy life is not coaching; Bears coach Luke Burt picked up the pieces of his life last week and pondered the UAA Bears second half
The secret to a long happy life is not coaching; Bears coach Luke Burt picked up the pieces of his life last week and pondered the UAA Bears second half and 26-0 capitulation to the Tweed Seagulls then he looks to this week and a better second half performance against the Clydesdales in Toowoomba.
It may have been Bears winger Troy Leoโs 100th game for the Bears but the Clydesdales werenโt coming to the party.
Enter Chris Woodbridge the Western Clydesdales fullback, in the first minute the Clydesdales are camped over on the left-hand touchline and come back to the middle to find Woodbridge who calmly pots it over the top for Joel Hughes to grab and score.
Five minutes later Woodbridge was doing it himself with a smart grubber into the in-goal and Woodbridge was there first for a 10-0 lead and now Burt may have been looking at the floor wondering what is happening.
Another five minutes after that Brock Pattie offloads and Kaden Buhse has the Clydesdales third try.
It took 23 minutes for the Bears to reclaim some ground, and it was Ryan Foran who did the damage under the posts.
It was Foran again kicking for himself and scoring in the corner that breathed new life into the Bears trip to Toowoomba.
The Bears took a slight step backwards when Hostplus Cup mainstay Toowoomba winger Peter Gubb scored in the corner.
But 18-10 at half time provided a good platform for the Bears to find their attack.
In the 56th minute of the second half it was Bears Josh Rogers that found points and scored his 54th Hostplus Cup try in game 127.
Setting up the blind side Josh Rogers powered over Tyson Walker and scores far out on the left.
This gave the Bears the second half start they were after and closed the gap to two points.
The Clydesdales set up camp down in their attacking zone and it seemed only a matter of time before Woodbridge would come up with the points that extend their lead, but the Bears defence kept turning them away.
The Clydesdales pressed the Bears line for 14 tackles and couldnโt crack them.
With nine minutes to go it was Bearsโ fullback Lachlan West who swung around and scored under the posts and the Bears were in front for the first time 22-18
Two penalty goals in the last three minutes sealed the win for the Bears 26-18.
The Bears will take on the Mackay Cutters next week back home at UAA Park.
