Santo stars as pink Blackhawks down Pride

It was the start everyone has come to expect from the Townsville & Districts Mendi Blackhawks as they notched up 12 unanswered points in the first 10 minutes of their match against local rivals the Northern Pride. The second try was long range effort from Tom Humble that brought the crowd to their feet on a day where the Mendi Blackhawks took to the field proudly wearing pink in celebration of Women in League round at Jack Manski Oval.

At the 26 minute mark the Pride hit back, crossing for their first try of the match via Hezron Murgha, ensuring they stayed in touch with the home side with a scoreline of 12-6. The end of the first half did not go as planned for the visitors however, as the Mendi Blackhawks ran in four further tries including two to inform winger Zac Santo.

The first Santo try was an 80 metre run away after a special ball from Moses Pangai set the speedster down the sideline with Pride chasers unable to reign him in. The second was an impressive show of athleticism that saw Santo place the ball barely inches inside the line after a chasing down a kick. The three quick tries sent the home side to the break with a lead of 32-6.

During the second half Santo notched up another hat-trick, his second in as many games, and Moses Pangai announced his return from injury with a try of his own.

The Mendi Blackhawks showed typical grit in defence during the first 65 minutes of the match muscling their opposition and starving them for points. Some complacency crept in during the final 15 minutes as the visitors ran in 3 tries to take the score to a more respectable 42-24.

Coach Kristian Woolf was pleased with his team’s efforts in both defence and attack in Round 15, “Whilst it was disappointing we dropped our intensity in the last 15 minutes, the majority of the game was played at an excellent standard against a quality opposition.”

“Our key positions of Mitchell at 9, Parker-Walshe and Hughes in the halves; and Humble at fullback combined very well in attack and our middles lead by Beasley, Costigan and McLean were nice and physical in the middle.”

TOWNSVILLE BLACKHAWKS 42 (Zac Santo 3, Michael Parker- Walshe 2, Jahrome Hughes, Mosese Pangai, Tom Humble tries; Tom Humble 4, Corey Jensen goals) def NORTHERN PRIDE 24 (Hezron Murgha, Brett Anderson, Luke George, Vaipuna Tia Kilifi tries; Linc Port 4 goals) at Jack Manski Oval.

Photo Gallery courtesy of Alix Sweeney