THE Tea Gardens Hawks secured a thrilling two-point, last-minute victory over the Raymond Terrace Magpies at Myall Park on Saturday 18 April.
The second game of the season also marked the 100th Hawks appearance for club stalwart Mitch Baker, who came back for “one more year” in 2026.
The windy afternoon was as volatile as the gameplay, but the Hawks gained from a convenient penalty off the first kick, followed by fumbles by each side.
Regan Hunter landed the match’s first try for the Hawks within less than four minutes, before an Isaac Mitchell conversion added another two points.
Raymond Terrace got on the board minutes later, with Will Scott-Glassock grounding it close to the uprights to set up an easy conversion of his own try to level the score.
Despite a series of knock-ons for both sides, strong defences kept the score level for the first quarter of the game.
Both teams had plenty of attempts, but errors or penalties scuppered several strong attacks.
The Magpies’ Scott-Glassock and Max Goodwin then combined well to score Raymond Terrace’s second try up the left wing, however it went unconverted.
Strong field position soon paid off for the Hawks, as a Magpies fumble gave them another five tackles close to the line.
Matthew Cameron was on hand to capitalise, crossing the line to level the score at 10-10.
As the first half ticked away a Hawks slip-up gave the Magpies a penalty kick, which put them two points ahead at the break.
In the second half, increasing roughness of play brought more penalties and stop-start football.
The Hawks then took the lead once more, after Mitch Baker caught a kick and glided past the line to score on his special day.
Chasing the game, the Magpies made five try attempts in as many minutes, and their persistence paid off when Jonathan Page scored close to the uprights to set up a simple conversion to restore Raymond Terrace’s league.
A Hawks penalty then put them within 20 metres of the line, before Joshua Papasavvas scored on the left wing to take the lead again, as the war of attrition dragged on.
The home side continued their dominance, winning another five tackles after a penalty in the danger zone.
Hawks star James Sinclair flew up the left wing for another try, which was converted easily by his brother, Alex Sinclair, to put the Hawks eight points ahead with 10 minutes left.
Desperately chasing a result, the Magpies took control of possession and scored again through Jonathan Page to narrow the gap.
The hometown crowd was willing the Hawks not to give up their lead so close to the end, a dream almost shattered when the Magpies passed the ball out to their right wing and Lucas Morgan scored a try, taking the lead by two points with under three minutes left.
The Hawks returned the favour from their final kick-off.
James Sinclair preempted the Magpies and caught the kick, launching an attack which took the ball across to the right wing for Anthony Cameron to score his second try of the match with less than 10 seconds to go.
The final score was 30-28 to the Hawks.
By Thomas O’KEEFE
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