The Queanbeyan Blues have won the Canberra Raiders Cup First Grade grand final after beating the Goulburn Workers Bulldogs 34-14 at Seiffert Oval on Sunday.
The tight first half quickly turned into a harsh defeat for the Bulldogs in the second half after the Blues packed on four tries to win their fourth title in six years.
The Queanbeyan Blues were the first to score for the game after hooker Zachary Patch busted his way to the line to score under the post.
Goulburn came back with a try of their own to even up the early score after a Chris Hart flick pass set up Nic Cornish under the post.
A tired Queanbeyan side spilled the ball in their own 20 which set up an open Steve Cummins try, giving the Bulldogs their second for the day.
Within two minutes, Queanbeyan evened up the score after Josh Hitchins found his way to the try line giving the Blues the lead back.
With 30 seconds to go in the half, Terry Campese widen the score with a successful penalty goal, the Blues head into the sheds with 14-10 lead over the Bulldogs.
Goulburn came out of the break with all the momentum after Iziah Tittor barrelled his way over the Queanbeyan defence to score his first try for the day.
The Blues didn’t stay down for long after Josh Stuckey pushed his way over the try line giving Queanbeyan the lead back.
The home side kept up the scoring in the second half after the Blues skipper Jake Wheeler caught the short drop-out and ran his way around the Goulburn defence to score the fourth try for Queanbeyan.
A line break from Queanbeyan with a kick back on the inside from Jack Williams perfectly set up fullback Matthew Parsons for the Blues fifth try.
Queanbeyan sealed the game and the title after the Blues went the full field and Aisea Taholo scored in the corner.
Queanbeyan Blues: 34 (Tries: Z. Patch, J. Hitchins, J. Stuckey, J. Wheeler, A. Taholo Goals: Campese 5/7) def Goulburn Workers Bulldogs: 14 (Tries: N. Cornish, I. Tittor, S. Cummins Goals: Hart 1/2, T. Cornish 0/1)
Written by Nathan James