QR Reds overpower Force
The force was with the QR Reds as they overpowered their Perth rivals 29-12 at Suncorp Stadium in Round Nine of the Investec Super 14 tournament, despite being without five of their frontline players.
The Reds restricted the Western Force to penalty goals, while scoring three tries of their own to Leroy Houston, Morgan Turinui and Andrew Walker. The Reds were hammering the Force line searching for a fourth as referee Stu Dickinson blew fulltime.
The home side had the best possible start when a first minute clearing kick by Force and Wallaby wing Drew Mitchell skewed off the side of his boot to produce a lineout close to the Force tryline. The Reds lineout claimed the throw and drove Houston over for his try, converted from the sideline by fullback Clinton Schifcofske.
The Force had all the possession in the first half and made threatening inroads into the Reds' defence out wide, with Shepherd keeing the scoring ticking over with penalty goals, to trail 13-12 at halftime.
The Reds lost Schifcofske for a 10 minutes to a yellow card for a professional foul but played out the time without conceding a try. Berrick Barnes stepped up to slot a penalty for the Reds while Schifcofske was off the field.
"We went into half-time feeling they couldn't score a try with the mountain of possession they had and that boosted our confidence," Reds Coach Phil Mooney said after the match.
In the second half the Force were expected to lift another gear but it was the Reds who were the more enthusiastic and committed team, Turinui breaking the line and corner flagging a diving Mitchell for a 25-metre try in Turinui's best match to date in a Reds jersey.
The constant pressure yielded the Reds' third try when replacement wing Andrew Walker crossed to seal the result while the Force were without backrower David Pocock, who sat out the final 10 minutes of the match on a yellow card for a professional foul.
The result was the Reds' first victory over an interstate rival since the equivalent match in 2006 and effectively ends the Force's hopes of a semi-final berth.
 | The Reds were well served by their industrious forward pack, with Houston again proving a handful for defenders and new skipper James Horwill (pictured) leading from the front. Tireless flanker David Croft played hard on the ball all night until being forced off exhausted and with a painful shoulder injury in the last few minutes. Prop Ben Coutts played strongly in a dominant scrum after being called up as a replacement for Greg Holmes (knee), while Chris Latham's replacement at fullback Schifcofske worked hard to match his predecessor's enthusiastic level of involvement. Wing Digby Ioane (broken finger) is expected to be fit for selection against the Chiefs next week but Mooney said the form of Brando Va'aulu and Peter Hynes will make for a tough selection decision. Scrumhalf Sam Cordingley is also expected to return from a calf injury, however flanker Hugh McMeniman's broken ankle is expected to keep him on the sideline for another week. |
QR Reds 29 (Leroy Houston, Morgan Turinui, Andrew Walker tries, Clinton Schifcofske con 4 pens) def Western Force 12 (Cameron Shepherd 4 pens). Crowd: 18,084.
