The Central Queensland Capras were beaten 22-14 by the Ipswich Jets at Richardson Park – Woogaroo Field in Round 6 of the BMD Premiership, with four unanswered Ipswich tries overturning the Capras’ early lead before the home side halted a second-half fightback.
The Capras made the ideal start when fullback Sophie Duff crossed in the third minute to put the visitors ahead 4-0. Mariah Denman missed the conversion, but Central Queensland had the first advantage and kept Ipswich scoreless through the opening 20 minutes.
The Jets responded in the 23rd minute through Tenaya Yorston, who crossed to level the scores at 4-all. Akira Kelly missed the conversion, leaving the match locked before Ipswich struck again five minutes later.
Chantae Wilson-Jenkins scored in the 28th minute to give the Jets their first lead of the afternoon. Chanelle Kohika-Skipper was unable to add the conversion, but Ipswich took an 8-4 advantage into half-time after scoring twice without reply.
The Jets extended their lead soon after the restart. Rilee Jorgensen crossed in the 38th minute, with Kelly missing the conversion as Ipswich moved ahead 12-4.
Jhana Magele added another try in the 45th minute, and Kelly converted to push the home side to an 18-4 lead. The two tries in the opening 10 minutes of the second half left Central Queensland with a significant deficit to recover.
The Capras found a response through Josie Wogand in the 49th minute. Her try cut the margin to 18-8, although Denman’s conversion attempt was unsuccessful.
Ipswich answered four minutes later when Yorston crossed for her second try of the match. Kelly missed the conversion, but the Jets had restored their 14-point advantage at 22-8 with 17 minutes remaining.
Central Queensland continued to press and found another breakthrough in the 63rd minute. Ihndara McLeod crossed for the Capras’ third try before Denman converted to reduce the margin to eight points at 22-14.
The late try gave the Capras an opportunity to close the gap further, but Ipswich held firm through the final minutes to secure the Round 6 result.
Yorston led the scoring with two tries for the Jets, while Wilson-Jenkins, Jorgensen and Magele also crossed. Duff, Wogand and McLeod scored Central Queensland’s three tries, with Denman landing one conversion. Ipswich finished with five tries to three, while both teams converted once.
The result left the Capras to rue the four unanswered Jets tries that turned their early 4-0 lead into an 18-4 deficit, while Yorston’s second try stopped their comeback from gathering further momentum.
