QCup Rd 17 Tweed Heads 28 Mackay 22

by NRL

Tweed Heads coach Ben Anderson has paid tribute to his team's talented youngsters after the depleted Seagulls maintained their grip on third position with a 28-22 win over the Mackay Cutters in Moranbah last night.

Already without Brad Davis and a host of other regulars, the Seagulls' playing roster was further stretched when Titans contracted players Kayne Lawton and Beau Henry were scratched as well.

Anderson pitched Matt King and Michael Parker-Walshe into the halves, with the versatile Blake Anderson slotting in at hooker.

The revamped line up clicked into gear, with the Seagulls having the better of the first half to lead 16-6 at the break.

The Tweed did it relatively comfortably in the second half until the Cutters gave themselves a glimmer of hope with two late tries in the dying minutes.

"Mackay played well. In the second half they were playing for their survival, so they threw the ball around," Anderson said.

"A couple of our young blokes stood up and played really well."

Tweed fullback Shaun Carney was one of those players.

Carney scored a hat-trick of tries, but it was his ability to defuse the Cutters' clever kicks and return the ball with "energy" that impressed Anderson the most.

The Tweed controlled possession brilliantly in the heavy rain, much to Anderson's delight.

"We're rapt with the win, I think we've won three of five games without Brad Davis," he said.

TWEED HEADS SEAGULLS 28 (Shaun Carney 3, James Wood, Michael Parker-Walshe tries; Joe Vickery 4 goals) def MACKAY CUTTERS 22 (Andy Gay, Bureta Faraimo, Jardine Bobongie, Kelvin Nielsen tries; Liam Taylor 3 goals) at Moranbah.

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