Sport
28 July, 2022
Bulls win low-scoring thriller
THE Brisbane Valley Bulls kept their slim finals hopes alive with an extraordinary victory against the Fassifern Bombers at Esk Sport Recreation Reserve last Saturday.
A scoreless draw was a strong possibility until Brisbane Valley’s Jake Karreman kicked a penalty goal with five minutes left to give the home side a mere 2-0 win.
Bulls coach Craig Melville said it was “a real finals game” as the defence was first class.
“Very happy with the win,” he said.
“I wanted our guys to hang tough through the hard moments, and everyone certainly did that.
“(It was) one of our best wins of the season.”
The Bulls remained in sixth position, just one win behind the third- and fourth-placed Fassifern and Redbank Plains.
Entering last Saturday on the back of two consecutive defeats, the Bulls were again forced to reshuffle the team due to injuries and absentees.
Nick Teske, Lachlan Vollbrecht and Reece Reiser were among the missing players, along with Jahi Taipairi-Groom who was ruled out for the season.
Melville said his team started strongly and that “everyone stuck together” as the big focus was on defence.
Brisbane Valley front- rowers Ethan Kohler and Jessie Russ had strong games as they got their team rolling forward, while Joe Perrett was strong in defence as usual.
“Overall (it) was a great team effort,” Melville said.
The Bulls came closest to scoring a try, and were held up over the line on two occasions amid great scrambling defence from the Bombers.
With good ball control, intensity and discipline from both teams while the speed of the game was fast, Melville said the score was a true indication of the game.
Melville said the Bulls wanted to finish the season strongly, and most importantly they really wanted to go into the next game with the same attitude that they showed last Saturday.
Reiser may return this Saturday, depending on how well he trains this week.
Brisbane Valley will contest the seventh-placed Norths Tigers at Daniels Park from 2pm, after the Tigers upset the Bulls 22-20 only three weeks earlier.
