Illawarra's History In The Making

Illawarra Mercury

Thursday July 3, 2008

TIM BARROW

ILLAWARRA 20 bt TOWNSVILLE 18

ILLAWARRA last night etched its name in the history books, winning the Centenary Trophy at ANZ Stadium.

In the curtain-raiser to the State of Origin decider, Illawarra held off a Townsville second-half comeback to record a thrilling 20-18 win.

Man of the match, Wes Hallam, who scored two tries, pulled off a match-winning tackle in the final moments when he shut down a Townsville attacking raid just metres from the try line.

Hallam released the pressure valve on the scrambling Illawarra team, forcing a Townsville knock on with just two minutes remaining.

"I knew I had to get up and try and make a tackle," Hallam said after the game.

"They had numbers and I'm just glad it came off and we won."

The Illawarra team were under siege in the final 20 minutes, but refused to concede after leading 10-0 at half-time and 20-10 after 52 minutes.

After already winning the NSW Country Championship two years' running and advancing to the national final, Hallam said it was an amazing feeling to be part of a team that could claim it was the premier country division in Australia.

"It's just sensational," he said of the Centenary Trophy, a special competition to celebrate rugby league's 100th year.

"This is something that's never going to happen again and it's a big thing to be the number one country area."

In the gripping clash, Townsville stormed back into the contest with tries in the 67th and 74th minutes, to be down 20-18.

But fullback Billo Mosbo, who managed just one conversion from four attempts, missed the difficult kick to level the game.

Earlier, Illawarra led 10-0 at the break after tries to lock Mark Corrigan in the 12th minute and Jarrod Boyd in the 35th.

Townsville halfback Mitchell Seri scored two tries after the break, but Illawarra responded with Hallam's double to establish a 20-10 lead.

The Illawarra team then absorbed the late pressure, mainly as a result of penalties, to escape with victory.

ILLAWARRA 20 (W Hallam 2, M Corrigan, J Boyd tries; J Boyd 2 goals) d TOWNSVILLE 18 (M Seri 2, S Elliott, T Bowie tries; B Mosby goal).

© 2008 Illawarra Mercury

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