Seahorses take chances to down Ghosts

By Tim Howard

The Grafton Ghosts are on the hard road to further Group 2 Rugby League glory after a gutsy 32-20 loss to Woolgoolga Seahorses in the qualifying semi-final at Solitary Islands Sports Ground on Sunday.

The Ghosts were left lamenting their finishing skills, with players held up over the line on four occasions through tenacious Woolgoolga defence.

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And they will feel they did not get the slightest rub of the green when the Seahorses  piled on three tries in seven minutes in the last stages of the game, two of them from freakish pieces of good fortune.

The Ghosts scored twice in the last few minutes to ensure the scoreboard reflected the closeness of the game.

The Ghosts went to half time 12-0 down with Woolgoolga seemingly in control in a hard-fought game.

The Seahorses appeared to have the Ghosts measure in size, speed and kicking in the first 40 minutes.

Classy fullback Dane O’Hehir opened the scoring in the 12th minute when hard running centre Shayde Perham shrugged off some ineffectual tackles and found O’Hehir unmarked on the inside with a clear run to the line.

Grafton Ghosts player coach Adam Slater tries to power through the Woolgoolga defence with a typically robust carry during the qualifying final at Woolgoolga on Sunday.

Halfback Tyler Murden pounced a few minutes before half time when the Ghosts let a towering O’Hehir bomb bounce twice in their quarter.

As the ball bounced away from defenders towards the left corner of the ground, Murden leapt high to gather and fell over the line.

He landed the conversion to give the home team a convincing half time lead.

Minutes into the second half Woolgoolga were awarded a penalty right in front of the sticks to when the Ghosts tackled a player not in possession of the ball.

The 14-0 lead should have been decisive, but instead Woolgoolga seemed to go into their shells.

Grafton centre Dylan Collett got his team on the board, when he ran off an Adam Slater pass and scored to the left of the uprights.

Halfback Cooper Woods converted and less than 10 minutes later the Ghosts were in again.

On the last tackle the Ghosts elected to run and a looping pass found Woods flying onto the ball to touch down just to the right of the posts.

He converted and with the scoreline at 14-12, the game settled into an arm wrestle until Woolgoolga hit a purple patch.

It started with some aggressive defence on their line.

Defending a few metres out quick line speed forced a hurried kick from five-eighth Tom Bowles, which went dead in goal.

From the quarter line tap Woolgoolga engineered a break for their winger.

They swung the ball across to the right corner, before finding their try scoring machine Sione Fangupo.

He headed back toward the posts, stepping past defenders and breaking tackles to score near the uprights.

It was the game breaking try.

Big Grafton Ghosts centre Dylan Collett scores his team’s first try in the qualifying semi-final against Woolgoolga on Sunday.

A few minutes later the Ghosts were carrying the ball out of defence when a jolting tackle knocked the ball loose and a rampage Woolgoolga prop Connor Bailey raced over the line for a converted try.

And to make completely sure of the result, Perham scored a well-deserved try with a searing run past some tiring defence.

To their credit the Ghosts heads did not drop their heads and in a hectic final three minutes scored a couple of consolation tries to hooker Clay Watters-Campbell and a second to Collett, chasing through a kick after the full-time siren sounded.

The Ghosts player coach Adam Slater thought his team had competed well with Woolgoolga for most of the game.

“The bounce of the ball went against us for a period in the second half, but up to then I was confident we could finish over the top of them,” he said.

“We stuck with them and as we put the pressure on them, they gave us a couple of opportunities.

Slater was also philosophical that he, prop Mitch Garbutt, Collett and prop Dan Shipman were held up in goal.

“Another day and we score a couple of those and it’s a different ball game,” Slater said.

The Ghosts season is on the line at home in Saturday’s minor semi-final at Frank McGuren Field  against the Nambucca Roosters, who ended the Coffs Comets season with a 32-28 thriller at Coronation Park.

Slater said Nambucca could be a danger team with their ad-lib style of play luring teams into trying to match them.

“We’ve got to play our game and not try chasing their style of game,” he said.

On Sunday minor premiers South Grafton Rebels host Woolgoolga at McKittrick Park to decide which team goes straight to the September 10 grand final.

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