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Message: [QUOTE="Big Pete, post: 2726184, member: 1899"] State of Origin Game II QUEENSLAND 5; NSW 4 at Lang Park An Allan Langer field goal 66 seconds from fulltime broke a 4-all deadlock and enabled Queensland to level the Origin series at one match apiece. The match will go down as the lowest-scoring State of Origin match on record, but boring it was not. Only one try was scored in wet Lang Park conditions, but the match was stacked with drama and excitement from start to finish. Queensland withstood the sin-binning of prop Martin Bella and five-eighth Peter Jackson to score one of their most famous victories. Bella and Jackson were marched by referee Bill Harrigan for dissent within minutes of each other early in the match, leaving Queensland with 11 men. The 11 who were left responded instantly and heroically. It was one Origin’s most inspiring moments. And it produced a resolve within the Maroons camp to win the match that NSW could not match. “It was early enough in the match for us to be full of hype and the guys were great the way they hung in there,” said Meninga after the match. “I reckon the commitment we showed in those 10 minutes won us the match.” On the other side of the coin, NSW failed to take advantage of their undermanned opposition by refusing to throw the ball wide. Siginificantly, just one minute after Queensland were restored to 13 men, the NSW defence cracked, and debutant Billy Moore scored in the corner for the Maroons. At halftime it was 4-all and the defences of both sides stood rock solid through a gruelling second half in which any mistake could have changed the course of the series. No break came as the match entered its final few minutes. NSW halfback Ricky Stuart had missed with two attempts at field goal and the match looked headed inevitably towards the first drawn match in Origin history. Enter Langer, the new hero of the Lang Park terraces, who attempted a field goal with 66 seconds left on the clock. He had never kicked a field goal before in his life but this one sailed true for 5-4 and a vital Queensland victory. “It was my first one ever,” said Langer. “The ball came sweetly off my boot, but normally I muck them up. I reckon the last time I landed a dropped goal was when I was a kid in my backyard.” Langer may have been the hero, but it was second-rower Bob Lidner who took away man-of-the-match honours. Lidner’s bullocking burts defied NSW’s attempts to pin Queensland in their own territory. Apart from Lidner, Meninga, Gary Larson and Allan Langer were key men on what was another classic Origin encounter. Props Paul Harrogan and Glenn Lazarus were again outstanding for NSW and took another step closer to Test berths against Great Britain. Stuart kicked superbly at halfback and captain Laurie Daley did some brilliant work at five-eighth. Queensland 5 (Moore try; Langer field goal) defeated New South Wales 4 (Wishart 2 goals) Queensland Dale Shearer, Michael Hancock, Mal Meninga, Mark Coyne, Adrian Brunker Peter Jackson, Allan Langer Martin Bella, Steve Walters, Gavin Allen, Bob Lidner, Gary Larson, Billy Moore Interchange: Kevin Walters, Trevor Gillmeister, Darren Smith, Mike McLean New South Wales Andrew Ettingshausen, Graham Mackay, Brad Fittler, Paul McGregor, Rod Wishart Laurie Daley, Ricky Stuart Glenn Lazarus, Ben Elias, Paul Harragon, Paul Sironen, John Cartwright, Brad Clyde [FONT=&quot]Interchange: Craig Salvatori, Brad Mackay, David Gillespie, Steve Carter[/FONT] [/QUOTE]

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