The Logan Saints suffered their first loss of the 2010 Brisbane rugby union season, going down to the University of Queensland 26 - 19 in a flowing match played at St Lucia on the weekend.
The Saints opened the scoring with an incisive break from winger Pat Edwards from halfway which almost led to a try but desperate UQ defence denied the Logan attackers.
The defence could not hold for much longer however, and from an ensuing penalty, the Saints won the lineout and number-8 Tim Woods plunged over in the corner for a 5 - 0 lead.
What followed was a period of disciplined and sustained attack from the Red Heavies which was matched by some resolute Saints defence.
A UQ penalty attempt sailed wide of the posts before the Saints were pinned deep in their 22 with UQ on the attack. Logan won the lineout against the throw and scrambled a clearing kick but a desperate University forward got a hand to the ball and dived on the ball for a try to level the scores at 5 - 5.
Twenty minutes of the sides battling for field position in an intense mid-field contest followed with both teams kicking long in a search for field position with the forwards grinding away at each other in an attempt to break the deadlock.
Just before half-time, the Red Heavies took advantage of some tiring Saints defence and scored a driving forwards ry to open up a 12 - 5 lead going into the break.
The Saints had the first opportunity of the second half with a 40-metre penalty attempt but UQ kept the momentum by shortly afterwards running the ball back in response to a Logan kick and slicing through for another try to extend the lead to 12 points.
Another try followed out wide and the deficit was suddenly 21 points late in the game, but the Saints rallied impressively and after a series of rampant charges up the centre of the field, Woods claimed his second try of the match, which was converted from the sideline by half-back Tim Burrows.
From the restart, the Saints roared back into attack with flanker Tim Hintz breaking through some flimsy defence to lay the platform for an attack deep in University territory.
Taking advantage of the field position, winger Quinton Matika was put over in the corner and again Burrows converted from the sideline to close the gap to seven points with minutes remaining.
Unfortunately for the Saints, the UQ defence held strong in the final minutes to deny Logan a chance to snatch a come from behind win.
Other players to star for the Saints were backrowers Johnny McMillan and Tim Griffiths who worked tirelessly in the heat for the full 80 minutes.
The Saints did not fare as well in the lower grade matches, with UQ registering a 43 - 3 win in second grade after a tough first half showing that the Saints had the potential to match it with the top sides of the competition.
But after the break, University threw the ball wide and managed to extend their lead beyond what truly reflected the difference between the sides and the intensity of the contest.
In the third and fourth grade matches, Logan struggled away from home and went down 44 - 7 and 56 - 0 respectively.
The Logan Saints continue their 2010 Brisbane rugby union campaign next week with home matches against the Easts Tigers.
