NEEDING a win to fulfil their part of the bargain in the chase for a top four spot, the Tigers Gold took on the Wildcats at Tuncurry on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Going in to the match in fifth place, the Tigers also needed Green Point to do them a favour and win at fourth placed Lansdowne.
After a draw against the Rovers the week before, the Tigers Gold were due a win, and they started the match extremely well, pressing Taree high up the pitch and running hard at the defence.
It wasn’t too long before the home side took an inevitable lead with a fine finish by Brett Webber, and they carried this lead into the second half.
A penalty saw the Tigers double their lead again through Webber, and it looked like the Tigers would run away with the match. However, some loose defending allowed Taree’s captain to score from close range.
This lifted the Wildcats, but the Tigers answered well with a fine headed goal by Adam Christensen off a Webber corner.
This opened the floodgates, with goals to Keegan Murphy, Jack Jenkins and Joey Newman emphasising the Tigers’ superiority.
They did concede a second, as goal fever set in, so the match finished TFFC Tigers Gold 6, Taree Wildcats 2.
Keegan Murphy was players player, with an excellent performance on return from injury by Paul Auriac and Kale McCarthy was very impressive at right back as well.
The Rovers did end up beating the Lions, which meant the result saw the Tigers Gold claim fourth place on the table.
This weekend sees an all-Tigers qualifying semi-final as the first placed Tigers Black take on the Tigers Gold, with the winner getting a well-earned week off, the loser having to play sudden death football from then on.
