By Kirra Livingstone
TWO golden point thrillers capped off a great start to finals football for the Beerwah Bulldogs club.
In the Men’s A Grade, the Doggies prevailed 22-20 against the Caboolture Snakes in extra time.
Coach Brett Hill said he was still buzzing after the rollercoaster match with the Snakes scoring two minutes before full-time to level the scores at 20-20.
“In the end, the emotions were crazy, I had no bench because everyone was injured so we were really struggling, that’s probably why it was a bit closer than I would have liked,” he said.
“They’ve never won a division 1 A grade grand final so there’s a lot of emotion involved, all the old club legends are getting behind the team, and it’ll be pretty emotional if we win.”
The Doggies scored the first two tries of the game, keeping the Snakes scoreless in the first half, but the away team fought back scoring three tries while pushing themselves into the lead.
The Bulldogs scored with six minutes to go, but Caboolture clawed their way back with a converted try just two minutes remaining.
A flurry of missed field goals from the Snakes and then a missed penalty right in front opened the door for the Bulldogs in the second 10 minutes.
Beerwah was awarded a penalty in front, which was converted by Mat Kidd in front a jubilant home crowd.
They now play Kawana in a preliminary final on Saturday September 3. The reserve grade faced off against the Kawana Dolphins, winning 13-12 in golden point time.
Beerwah scored the first two tries, before Kawana hit back towards the end of the game to level at 12-12 at full-time.
However a Kawana player required an ambulance after being knocked out, which delayed the game by 40 minutes.
Beerwah kicked a field goal soon after play restarted to secure the win.
It was not a great end to the season for the Bulldogs Open Women’s side, which was defeated 48-0 by Caboolture.
Beerwah Bulldogs women’s coach Rod Kerr said a lack of experience was the main reason they struggled on August 28, but he focused on the positives from the season. “It was really good to get into the finals, especially for the younger girls, they are the future of the club, they’ve stuck through the whole season, and they are keen,” he said.
