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Reds winger Ben Tune grabbed his second try in two weeks and replacement hooker Sean Hardman scored a consolation five pointer when the game was almost over, but otherwise the Reds rarely looked likely to build enough momentum to threaten the home side.

Clinton Schifcofske kept them in the game early with a series of penalty goals for a personal tally of 14 points, but the Stormers made better use of their possession and of the ball the Reds turned over in crucial situations.

The most damaging was when the Reds were attacking the Stormers line but lost the ball, only to see it carried back 80m up field for one of two tries by Stormers speedster Brent Russell. His second came from a chargedown of an Andrew Walker clearing kick, one of two in the match.

After trading penalty goals for the first 25 minutes the Stormers got out to a 20-12 halftime lead, with two tries by Stormers captain and flanker Luke Watson from mauls close to the line. His second try came after the Reds were reduced to playing a man down, with prop David Te Moana given a yellow card for collapsing a maul and after a general warning for repeated infringements at the breakdown.

The Reds never recovered from that and from the 13-3 turnover count during the match.

Flanker David Croft led the side after captain John Roe had to return to Australia for family reasons. Fellow flanker Tom McVerry switched to No 8 for the match, while mobile hooker/backrower Geoff Abram came off the bench late in the game as a replacement for Croft, earning his first Queensland cap.

Reds coach Eddie Jones said the Reds mistakes proved costly against a side that was well equipped to capitalise on them.

"Our skill and discipline let us down. We knew the Stormers were a very good turnover side and we had to keep the ball from them. Unfortunately we didn't do that which cost us dearly."

Jones said replacement scrumhalf Will Genia had suffered a strained ankle but was expected to be fit for next weekend's final round match against the Bulls.

Stormers 37 (Luke Watson 2, Brent Russell 2, Joe van Niekerk tries, Peter Grant 3 con, 2 pen) def QR Queensland Reds 24 (Ben Tune, Sean Hardman tries, Clinton Schifcofske 4 pen, con).