By William Crutcher
Norths surged out of a challenging mid-winter run when they led all the way to defeat the Jets 30-22 in an absorbing Hostplus Cup match at Ipswich yesterday.
The Devils had lost three consecutive matches but remained in second place on the ladder for the clash with the fifth-placed Jets.
Wearing the club’s Indigenous jersey, the Devils played with one NRL-contracted player in Dolphins forward Kenny Bromwich while the Jets fielded six fulltime players from the Gold Coast Titans.
But the premiers were too strong, turning the game in the 51st minute when triple premiership half Jack Ahearn trapped a kick from former Devil Julian Christian as the Jets were on the attack.
Ahearn scooped up Christian’s kick and quickly looked right to find winger Manase Kaho scorching down the touchline to complete a 90-metre try.
That pushed the Devils to a 24-10 lead that the Jets could not haul in, creating a clear top four on the ladder with Townsville, Devils, Wynnum Manly and Burleigh in a group three points ahead of fifth.
This was another win built on the depth of the Norths squad led by captain Kierran Moseley with second-rower Jackson Shereb scoring three tries and forward Justin Makirere crossing for the first try after he was promoted when Peter Hola was called up for consideration for Dolphins NRL duty.
“We knew that it wasn’t going to be easy because this is a tough competition and the Jets have built a good record this season,” coach Rohan Smith said.
“It’s never easy to win games but the team really stuck together and got into the grind and earned the win.”
The Devils made a strong start, withstanding an early attacking set from the Jets before scoring tries in bunches.
Makirere, stepping up into a starting role, received a slick pass from forward companion Sam Elliot in the fourth minute to land his third try of the season.
Shereb crossed six minutes later with the Jets’ defensive line scattered.
He collected Elliott’s quick play-the-ball from dummy-half, threw a dummy and ran 30 metres untouched to score.
Shereb was in again nine minutes later when five-eighth Jordan Lipp took advantage of Ipswich playing their fullback in the defensive line to kick ahead for an uncontested try. Lipp’s conversion put Norths’ up 16-0.
But the Jets fought back with tries in the 36th and 40th minutes to shorten the margin to six points at halftime.
However Norths’ intensity was again a factor to start the second half helping them in a game that had become an arm-wrestle.
A Lipp penalty goal in the 41st minute gave the premiers an 18-10 lead but the challenge was made more difficult when centre Blake Paskins left the field a few minutes later with a pec injury.
Norths were able to keep moving after some excellent defensive sets on their own line and some good takes from fullback Matthew Milson, earning them the shot at Ahearn’s trapped kick for the Kaho try.
Whilst the Jets rallied late with two tries in 13 minutes, the Devils kicked away again when an Ahearn’ pass ended with Shereb’s third try in the 66th minute.
The Devils had strong support across the field helping to improve their season record to 11-4.
Premiership winner Tony Tumusa again started on the wing while Jacob Gagan had another solid outing in his return from injury along with forward James Flack.
Moseley guided the Devils around the park in a forward pack that included the contributions of Lauloto Salei, Zach Brooks, Lachlan Lewis and Ben Nakubuwai from the bench in his return from injury.
The Devils return home to take on the Cutters on Saturday night before heading to Augathella for their Country Week clash with Wynnum-Manly Seagulls.
NORTHS DEVILS 30 (Jackson Shereb 3, Justin Makirere, Manase Kaho tries, Lipp 5 goals) bt IPSWICH JETS 22 (Oskar Bryant, Luke Maddaford, Josh Patston, Ryan Sutton tries, Teaupa 3 goals) at North Ipswich Reserve.
