The Gold Coast have won the first ARTTSL Premiership 2011 Qualifying Final with an ultimately comfortable 11-6 win over South New Zealand.
The match was marred by a sit-in protest by supporters of the Tweed Heads franchise, who sensationally split from the joint venture with Gold Coast after last year's Grand Final loss, and were then excluded from ARTTSL competition in 2011.
The Tweed fans had purchased tickets to the match but then forced their way onto the pitch and refused to move. After a brief stand-off with security, the group was cordonned off and the match was conducted as per usual. The silent protest was loudly booed vehemently by Gold Coast supporters.
The match was tight in the first half with South New Zealand leading on occasions, however Gold Coast hit their stride in the second half with five consecutive points to push to an 11-6 win.
Tomorrow sees the second and third Qualifying Finals with Canberra hosting Singapore in the afternoon and Illawarra travelling to Newcastle for the evening match. The round wraps up on Sunday afternoon with Sydney playing Geelong at Stadium Australia, which was disappointingly hacked up by tonight's disappointing first NRL Qualifying Final.
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1 comment:
We were never really in it. Maybe on the scoreboard but not on the park. Bummer. Let's hope other results go our way.
Roy Achiffen
Christchurch
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