Jets, Cougars finish on tie

A hard-fought clash between Broome Jets and South Hedland Cougars resulted in both teams meeting each other’s match.

South Hedland Cougars made the journey up to Broome’s Father McMahon Oval to take on the Jets last Saturday in the first seniors match of the year, ahead of 2019 competitions.

From the outset, both sides put the pressure on with a number of hard-hitting tackles, although Jets’ Madison McGregor was the first to break through and score a try for the home side.

It seemed the Cougars looked to deny the Jets any more try attempts during the first quarter as they began to step up the defence even further, shutting down the Jets by any means necessary.

However, a late try from Broome’s Finn Tribbick and a conversion from Matty Corpus saw Broome hold the 10-0 advantage at quarter-time. The second quarter saw more of the even midfield contest as South Hedland looked to make an early comeback and Broome wished to extend their lead.

Broome gained good ground through their faster players, enabling McGregor to score a second try and Corpus a second conversion.

Although it looked as though South Hedland were struggling to keep up with Broome’s fast offence, a couple of fumbles allowed them to cap-italise to stage an early come-back.

Kelima Levi and Ben Battelley eventually broke through to score two late tries for the Cou-gars, while James Elliott scored two successive conversions to narrow the half-time margin to just four points.

Following the main break, it looked as though early fatigue and the hard-hitting tackles had got to the Jets as some players began to suffer injuries.

However, they were able to shake off the minor ailments and put the pressure on South Hedland as they looked to take the lead.

Despite South Hedland’s attempts to shut down Broome, McGregor went on to score a third try for the home side, with Jonathon Sesar scoring the conversion to hold onto their lead.

South Hedland retaliated with a second try from Battelley and a third conversion from Elliott to bring the scores to 22-18 at three-quarter-time.

In the final quarter, the Cougars were quick to score a try and take the lead courtesy of Levi, and a fourth successful conversion from Elliott.

While it looked as though fatigue was setting in for the Jets, Cougars’ Levi and Elliott scored another try and conversion to extend their lead to eight points.

Broome, determined not to lose on home soil, stepped up and Jacob Predo scored a much-needed try and another conversion from Corpus brought the deficit down to two points. The closing minutes were an epic battle between South Hedland and Broome to determine the winner.

Broome took a huge risk and attempted a last-gasp try to take the win, but South Hedland shut them down, leaving Broome to resort to Corpus kicking a field goal after the siren.

Despite having the outcome riding on his shoulders, Corpus kept cool and scored the goal, leaving the final outcome as a tie at 30 apiece.