MOREE BULLS 17

THE Inverell Highlanders’ Central North premiership dream is a step closer after beating the Moree Bulls at Rugby Park on Saturday.

The Highlanders gathered momentum for the minor semi-final triumph after a loss to Narrabri last weekend when they were pushed into third place on the ladder.

In a classic encounter, the Highlanders used their defence to their advantage against a hungry Moree side.

Coach Ron Walters said the Highlanders knew what they had to do to secure a win, and they stepped up to the mark.

“We had to play 80 minutes of football if we were to have a decent shot at breaking Moree.

“That’s why we haven’t won those last three games - either we’ve had a poor start or a poor finish, but we had a great game from start to finish this week and it shows.”

The Highlanders were up 13-3 at half time, and Walters said the boys showed grit against an aggressive Moree attack.

“Our game plan was to stand up and defend against Moree and that is exactly what the boys did - in the first half Moree kept trying and trying to break through our line but just couldn’t bust through, so they took a penalty to bring them onto the scoreboard.”

Walters said strong leadership from key players also kept the Highlanders focussed on their goal.

“Joe de Dassel played an excellent game he really kept control of the forwards and kept them focussed on their game.

“Russell Brien did the same thing for the back, he kept them all on their game, our captain Dave Kearsey also had a really strong game.”

The Highlanders will have this weekend off to work on their game plan before facing the loser of the major semi-final between Tamworth Pirates and the Narrabri Blue Boars.

“We will be taking this week to recuperate, we have a couple of injuries that we need to get sorted before the game, and we are going to have to prepare to play both Tamworth and Narrabri before we find out their outcome.”