It was only round 2 of the Mid North Coast competition and Grafton, coming off the bye, were given little chance of defeating Port Pirates on their home soil. Favoured to be a major force this season Port, after a dominant display against arch-rivals Hastings Vikings last week, were full of confidence against a new-look Redmen outfit.
The first-half saw Port completely dominate proceedings pinning the Redmen deep in their half and starving them of possession. But with only seven-points on the scoreboard, thanks to Grafton’s scrambling defence, and a try seconds before the break by a rampaging Ramisese, all of a sudden belief started to filter through the Grafton ranks.
The second-half produced more of the same, but when Grafton started to gain better field position, all of a sudden the contest turned in the visitors favour. Tries to Mosese and Sakenasa gave Grafton some much needed breathing space with a 21-12 lead with only seven-minutes left on the clock.
Port managed a five-pointer in the shadows of full-time to close the gap to 21-17.
In the final wash-up, most pundits thought a Pirates victory was inevitable, but someone forgot to tell the Grafton players and coaching staff.
