Hounds News

Hounds Exorcise Demons

Normanby Hounds had a stunning return to form with an 82-0 thrashing of a hapless Aspley Demons at Harry Kirby Park on Saturday.

The Hounds got off to a great early start when the Demons gave away a penalty on the fourth tackle after the kick off. The subsequent Hounds attack had centre Ross Jenkins being pulled down short of the line, but on the next play five-eighth Sandy Kirk touched down under the posts in the fourth minute. Jenkins converted the try with ease, with his traditional Meninga style toe-poke becoming a crowd favourite over the afternoon.

The Hounds forwards had to work hard for the next stanza of play. Some aggressive play from Prop Michael "Hightower" Hinchcliffe and tireless hooker Evan Donaldson allowed halfback Grant Weiss to put in a great kick, with the enthusiastic chase by winger Chris Pomfret and Jenkins trapping the Aspley winger on his line. Aspley were let off the hook when fullback James "Jackie" Chan was penalised for a high tackle, but let themselves down with a kick that did not find touch. Errors like this are quickly punished when the Hounds are on song, and this occasion was no exception. Prop Kristian Johnson, as usual moonlighting as a playmaking halfback, threw a great pass putting Jeffries under the posts in the 12th minute. Jeffries converted his own try, stretching the Hounds lead out to 12-0.

Aspley stepped up to the plate in the not long after the restart of play, attacking the Hounds line with gusto and enthusiasm. The Hounds stood firm though, and a poor kick from the Demons on the 5th tackle allowed Normanby to retain control of the game. A solid set of six by the Hounds was followed by a great kick by Sandy Kirk which sat up in the Demons in-goal. The enthusiastic chase put the Hounds in great field position, and held the Demons on their own line. Aspley were forced to kick out of their own twenty, and it wasn’t long before Sandy Kirk made a great break down the left hand flank, to score his second try for the afternoon. Jenkins converted again to bring the score to 18-0.

In the last 15 minutes of the first half the floodgates opened for the Hounds. In a memorable passage Sandy Kirk passed to James Chan, who flicked the ball backwards to an unseen Kirk, who threw a great pass to centre Anthony Dunphy. Dunphy made the most of the opportunity, streaking away and beating the fullback in a textbook in and away movement. The Meninga style toe kick failed Jenkins on this occasion, with the score staying at 22-0.

The Hounds did not wait long for their next success with a great offload from Michael "Herman" Augherton putting Jenkins in the corner for his second try of the afternoon. Mitchell Chambers attempted the conversion, but it proved too hard a task for him, leaving the score at 26-0.

On the 23rd minute Mitchell Chambers darted out of dummy half, making a mockery of some lazy marker defence. Chambers pinned his ears back and beat the cover defence in a footrace to the line. Jenkins conversion extended the Hounds lead to 32-0.

A dubious penalty for an incorrect play the ball by Hinchcliffe gave Aspley a touch of the ball, using their six tackles before sending up a bomb that was defused by the safest hands in the competition, Pomfret. On the third tackle Ross Jenkins made a great 50 metre break putting the Hounds in good field position for the kick. The Demons were quickly on the attack again, before Hinchcliffe made up for his earlier error with a bone rattling hit, jerking the ball loose from the Aspley lock. In the ensuing set of six livewire hooker Evan Donaldson threw a great pass which put halfback Weiss in for a touchdown beside the posts, making the score 36-0. Kristian Johnson missed the conversion.

As the half time hooter sounded, the Hounds were awarded a penalty for Aspley being offside. Sandy Kirk took a quick tap and passed to Dunphy who ran 80 metres down the left flank to score under the posts. Jenkins conversion hit the posts, but the Hounds went into half time leading 40-0.

At half time coach Dean Mulhall urged the Hounds to stick to the plan. He congratulated the boys, and said it was the best they had played all year, and reminded them to keep running in pairs, supporting each other and defending in packs. Finally Coach Mulhall reiterated the need to keep Aspley to zero points.

The Hounds entered Harry Kirby Park fired up for the second half. From the kick off Hinchcliffe made a barnstorming run, making the 20 metre line. Kristian Johnson and lock Todd Peut followed up with bustling runs, having the Hounds attacking the line early. James Chan took advantage of some lazy defence to step inside and score on the right hand side in the first minute of the half. Ross Jenkins had some better luck with the boot, converting to make the score 46-0.

Aspley kicked off the same way, with Hinchcliffe returning the ball hard, but was unlucky as the referee decided to penalise him for moving off the mark when he played the ball. From the ensuing penalty a fired up "Hightower" wasted no time in making amends, with a massive hit on the Aspley prop. A few moments later Chambers pounced on a dropped Aspley pass, and would have run 80 metres to score, but the Aspley defender managed to just hold on to the back of Mitch’s shorts.

A few moments later Weiss passed to a flying Dunphy, who outran the cover defence again to score in the left corner. Jenkins missed the difficult conversion leaving the score at 50-0.

The Demons once again kicked off to Hinchcliffe, and a hard run from the big man was quickly followed by bustling runs from second rower Clancy Fallon and centre Ross Jenkins to put the Hounds in a good attacking position again. Weiss threw a long pass to Chambers, who threw a cut out pass to Jenkins who touched down for his third try under the posts. Jenkins converted his own try to make the score 56-0.

At the restart Aspley revised their plan of kicking off to Hinchcliffe, and made the mistake of kicking off to tough second rower Dan Finter instead. Finter made them pay immediately, with a 40 metre kick return leaving a number of Demons clutching.

A few minutes later a sweeping backline movement ending with Pomfret being pulled down just short of the line. Weiss showed confidence and went himself on the next tackle, scoring on the left hand side. The Jenkins conversion made the score 62-0.

A fumble from Hinchliffe from the kick off gave the ball back to Aspley, but an angry Hightower quickly made amends with big hits on the Aspley 13 and 11. A dubious penalty on the last for a tackle by Peut put the Hounds under more pressure, but Normanby showed they were up to the task.

Not long after that Ryan Pearce made a break down the left hand side, offloading to Jenkins who sprinted away to score under the posts. Jenkins converted his own try to bring the score to 68-0.

In the 26th minute a smart Donaldson pass put veteran Pearce into a hole, with Pearce running 50 metres to score under the posts. Jenkins missed the conversion, leaving the score at 72-0. Trainer Tony Casey reports that Pearce’s first request after scoring was for a breather, running 50 metres isn’t as easy as it once was for the Hounds stalwart.

From the kick off Finter ran through some soft defence, offloading to Dunphy who crossed for his fourth under the posts. The Jenkins conversion made the score 78-0.

A few minutes after the restart, Todd Peut made a break down the left hand side, and in a Martin Bella-esque moment played the ball facing the wrong way, earning himself a place in the Normanby Hall of Shame.

Finally, in the 34th minute Grant Weiss crossed for his second try under the posts. Todd Peut had a misguided attempt at converting the try, which was unsuccessful leaving the full time score at 82-0.

The old boys points went to 3 Michael "Hightower" Hinchcliffe, 2 Anthony Dunphy and 1 Ross Jenkins.

Normanby Hounds 82 (Dunphy 4, Jenkins 4, Weiss 3, Kirk 2, Chambers, Chan, Pearce tries; Jenkins 9/13, Chambers 0/1, Johnson 0/1, Peut 0/1 goals) beat Aspley Demons 0 at Harry Kirby Park, Aspley, 3pm Saturday 26 April 2008.

Next week the Hounds meet their 2007 Grand Final opponents Deception Bay Bombers, 3pm Saturday at Purtell Park.

In other results Fortitude Valley Juniors are outright leaders in Northside 1 on 11 points after beating Pine Rivers 26-16. Banyo remain on 10 points after being beaten 34 -24 by Deception Bay Bombers. Deception Bay and Sandgate Brighton share third place on 9 points after Sandgate Brighton beat Samford 32-4. Pine Rivers are on 8 points with Mitchelton on 7 points, after beating Nundah Devils 38-18. Normanby share 6 points with Dayboro, who had the bye.

06 Feb - Stage One Almost Complete

06 Feb - Hounds Enter Northside Challenge

04 Jan - Working Bee

04 Jan - Hounds Pre-Season Review

04 Jan - Hounds Boot Camp

15 Nov - Support Staff Wanted

14 Nov - KooGa and Normanby Rugby League

13 Oct - Annual General Meeting

13 Oct - Pre-Season Training

25 Sep - Trophy Night Review

25 Sep - New Coach Announcement

23 Sep - Red Hill Community Sports Club