THE Ipswich Jets found the perfect way to end their Tweed Heads hoodoo yesterday.
A 28-10 elimination semi-final win ended Tweed’s season and gave the Jets their first win south of the border in 14 games.
It has set up another elimination semi for the Jets, against Wynnum Manly at Wynnum on Sunday.
“It was a good team effort,” Jets captain Keiron Lander said.
“Now our focus is on next week.”
The Jets set up the win in the first half, leading 14-4 at the break despite running into a gale in wet conditions.
The Jets defended grimly and showed much better ball control than in last week’s win over Redcliffe.
“It was a bit of a grind for the first 30 minutes,” Lander said.
“We stuck to it,” he said.
“We weren’t pushing passes and defending errors.”
When the opportunities came the Jets took them, with two tries just before half time following some breathtaking lead up work.
The Jets began the second they way they finished the first, with a Marmin Barba try making it 20-4.
“It all came from our play, turning balls under and giving our little fellas room to play,” Lander said.
When Wes Conlon stripped the ball from an opponent and raced 70m to score with 13 minutes left it was game as good as over. Only then did Lander allow himself to think the game might be won.
“I don’t think you can take it out of teams in semis,” Lander said.
“You’ve got to play for the full 80 minutes.
“I’ve never beaten Tweed at Tweed in any team I’ve played for.”
Lander rated the performance as “up there” with the best the Jets had played all year.
Just as pleasing was that it was a full team performance, with the skipper struggling to single out individuals for praise.
Lander hoped to have all players on deck for the trip to Wynnum, but believed the Jets were in good shape with whoever was available.
“At this stage it’s not about who’s fit,” he said.
“It’s about doing what you’ve trained for all season.”
State of play
Queensland Cup elimination final: Ipswich Jets 28 (Marmin Barba, Kurt Capewell, Rod Griffin, Liam Capewell, Wes Conlon tries; Marmin Barba 3, Kurtis Lingwoodock goals) def Tweed Heads Seagulls 10 (Ricardo Parata, Jamal Fogarty tries; Blake Anderson goal) at Piggabeen Sports.
Next games: Minor semi-final – Sunday (2pm) – Ipswich Jets v Wynnum Manly at BMD Kougari Oval. Major semi-final: Saturday (5.30pm) – Northern Pride v Easts at Barlow Park.