Briggs leads hornets to victory

Aaron Taylor couldn’t get his men over the line against Cudgen in NRRRL Reserve Grade.

HE may be in his early 40s but evergreen Cudgen fullback David Briggs was the difference in the Hornets’ thrilling 22-20 victory over the Grafton Ghosts in the reserve grade elimination semi-final on Saturday night.

Briggs was at his scintillating best scoring two tries with his second 10 minutes from full-time having the fans on the edge of their seats.

Fielding a ball 15 metres his side of halfway the veteran fullback weaved his way past five Ghosts’ defenders before popping a magic ball to his winger to score in the corner.

With the clock winding down the Ghosts looked done and dusted before a piece of Aaron Taylor brilliance levelled the scores.

The unpredictable centre chanced his arm on the first tackle, chipping over the head of his opposite number before regathering and outpacing the cover-defence to score out wide.

But unfortunately for Taylor his conversion attempt sailed wide of the posts much to the delight of the Cudgen fans.

In a cruel twist the referee awarded the home side a penalty right in front of the sticks with only 50 seconds left on the clock.

The Cudgen five-eight slotted the ball over the black dot to extinguish the Ghosts’ hopes of playing in the minor semi-final next week.

The game started off at a frantic pace with both sides cautious in attack. However it was the Ghosts who drew first blood through a Taylor penalty goal.

Cudgen were again penalised for ill-discipline and Taylor made them pay with another two-pointer but some Briggs magic saw the home side claw their way back and take a 6-4 lead.

After sustained pressure Cudgen crossed for another four-pointer three minutes out from the break when their winger received a peach of a pass 10 metres out from the try line.

The Hornets started the second-half in style when Briggs found an opening to score next to the uprights.

Down 16-4 and with their season on the line the Ghosts rallied with Travis Daley burrowing his way over the try line to give his side a glimmer of hope.

Back in the game at 16-10 the Ghosts spread the ball wide which saw centre Sam Hartmann crash over in the corner. Taylor kicked the conversion from the sideline to lock the game up at 16-all.

The final 15 minutes was a stop-start affair with both sides continually being penalised for minor indiscretions by the referee.

Only pieces of brilliance by Briggs and Taylor at the death kept the game alive in a game which went right down to the wire.

Grafton Ghosts coach Mark Hooklyn said his side were unlucky on the night with several calls and mistakes at crucial times proving the difference.

“It was a very stop-start game but I’m happy with my boys,” Hooklyn said.

“We played some really good football but we made a couple of crucial mistakes and a few line-ball forward passes cruelled us in the end.

“We showed a lot of heart coming back from a 16-4 deficit. I’m very proud of the boys and happy with their efforts for the season.”