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• Gold Coast v Sunshine Coast

The Sunshine Coast Stingrays capped off a perfect Queensland Country Championship season when they defeated the Gold Coast Breakers 52-12 on the Gold Coast.

The match also doubled as a Queensland Premier Rugby fixture, after their scheduled Round 8 clash was brought forward to align with the Country Championship.

After having little possession in the first 10 minutes, the Sunshine Coast dominated in defence, found momentum, and eventually built a strong lead. 
Stingrays coach Glen Panoho was overjoyed with the win.

“I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet. It was all about composure, they just found the groove, and slowly got the points.

“It was a fantastic effort, even when we were down to 14 men (when scrumhalf James Rodley was in the sinbin), the boys played beautifully,” Panoho said.

The Stingrays went into the match with wins over the Darling Downs (33-19), Townsville (95-7), Cairns (85-3) and Central Queensland (83-0), while the Breakers had won the Country Championship for five years running.

Stingrays captain, Gareth Coulston said his side knew ll along the Gold Coast would be the team to beat.

“The first couple of country games were easier than we expected, but we always knew coming here that we would have a challenge on our hands.

“We had a good defence line, we stopped a few tries on our line, and sometime that is what can make all the difference,” Coulston said.

Sunshine Coast Stingrays 52 (M Blain 2, M King, J Rodley, L Fesolai, S Mackle tries, T Puki 3 con M Stone 2 con 4 pen) bt Gold Coast Breakers 12 (M Ngauamo, C Bracewell tries, D Nethery con)

_{Match report by Tom Williams}