The New England Ferrets and Hobart Devils met in front of a huge crowd to decide who would get the right to face an injury scarred Gold Coast side for a shot against Perth. Both sides had tough wins the week before, with Kimmorley making his comeback for the Devils.
1: David Peachy © 1: Brett Hodgson
2: Albert Torrens 2: Jason Robinson
3: Matt Cooper 3: Michael DeVere
4: Shane Elford 4: Michael Withers
5: Martin Offiah 5: Karl Pratt
6: Ben Ikin 6: Trent Barret ©
7: Adrian Lam 7: Julian O'Neill
8: Kevin Iro 8: Willie Mason
9: Ben Walker 9: Dean Schifilliti
10: Andrew Hart 10: Ruben Wiki
11: Chris Joynt 11: David Furner
12: Bryan Fletcher 12: Mark Geyer
13: Andy Farrel 13: Luke Ricketson
14: Paul Smith 14: Steve Simpson
15: Darrel Trindall 15: Rob Smyth
16: Peter Jorgenson 16: Brett Kimmorley
17: Wairangi Koopu 17: Ben Duckworth
New England got things underway in front of a packed house, eager to see their chargers qualify for a chance at a Grand Final. The Devils got the first touch, and immediatly it was evident that this game would be tough. The hits put on in the opening minutes from Iro, Joint and Ricketson were among the toughest we've seen all year- as neither side was prepared to give an inch.
Despite the tough defence, Hobart were able to post a try in the 5th minute through big winger Jason Robinson. The winger capitalised on some sloppy marker defence to scoot down the sideline and score a brilliant try. Furner made no mistake with the goal, and the visitors would play from in front.
New England were hurt by the try, and it showed as their quality of attack deteriorated. Their defence matched this, but Hobart lacked the speed to capitalise, blowing what could've been two tries through simple judgemental errors.
Ben Walker settled things in the 15th with a penalty goal, bringing the game back into reach and making Hobart calm their tackling. The goal had a good effect, with New England's defence lifting markedly to repel a number of Hobart raids. The attack lifted a level as well, with Shane Elford's promising break in the 21st a highlight. The speedy centre was dragged down only by a last ditch Hodgson tackle.
The Devils defence was put to the test in the 24th, when the Ferrets were given three consecutive sets of six on the back of some sloppy penalties. Surprisingly the Ferrets didn't go for goal, and came up pointless when Walker's dummy half run on the last was halted by a jarring Ricketson tackle.
The half wound on, with neither side able to find the second try. Peachy and Walker tried hard, whilst Kimmorley injected himself into the game to great effect. Despite the livewire halfback's contribution, the Devils couldn't cross, whether it was through determined defence or poor handling.
The Ferrets finally hit the lead in the 34th, capitalising on a Brett Hodgson knock-on from dummy half. The Blues fullback visibly irritated by his side's inability to post more points. It took the efforts of fellow NSW fullback David Peachy to lift the Ferrets. The superstar chipped for himself, regathered twenty out and then chipped again. The kick was collected by Martin Offiah, who flicked it inside to put Peachy into the ingoal. The kick had it at 8-6.
The lead was short lived, with Furner's 37th minute penalty levelling things. From the kick-off the ball was retrieved by fullback cum centre Michael Withers, who ducked a high Farrel tackle and raced sixty metres to score a scintillating try in the corner! Furner made no mistake with the goal, and at half time it was 14-8 in favour of Hobart.
After the break it was Hobart's turn to be shell-shocked, Offiah scoring from the kick-off courtesy of his own well worked dummy, which fooled Robinson. Offiah's run wasn't unhindered, as the former Great Britain winger cast aside Hodgson and dodged a charging Kimmorley. The kick was missed, and it was 14-12.
No more scoring occured until the 62nd, when Ricketson was penalised for a high tackle, and the scores were levelled by the boot of Ben Walker. The Ferrets couldn't buy a break though, as Chris Joynt was muscled into touch by Julian O'Neill. From the set following, Mark Geyer capitalised on a 3 on 2 overlap to score in the corner. Furner was faultless with the boot, and the Devils were leading 20-14.
In the 71st the home side levelled the ledger again, Torrens collected a Chris Joynt short ball after an inspiring line break. The winger scored in the corner, but Walker made no mistake with the conversion. With eight to go it was 20 all. Two sets later and Adrian Lam calmly put his side one ahead, avoiding any sudden death that could arise. The Devils' heads dropped, despite having five minutes to score a match winner.
Sloppy attack hurt the Devils, as they pushed too many passes. Offiah grabbed his second in the 79th to seal the game, collecting a long Kimmorley ball to score a wonderful 80 metre intercept try.
FULLTIME
New England 25:
David Peachy
Albert Torrens
Martin Offiah 2
Ben Walker 4/6
Adrian Lam 1/1 (f/g)
def.
Hobart Devils 20:
Jason Robinson
Michael Withers
Matt Geyer
David Furner 4/4
Player of the Match
Martin Offiah 3
Bryan Fletcher 2
Andrew Hart 1
