Jack Debreczeni kicks Melbourne to victory over Queensland
By Andy Swales
Last Updated: 12/03/16 1:22pm
Jack Debreczeni kicked 20 points as Melbourne Rebels repelled a Queensland recovery to edge past the Reds 25-23.
Thanks to a Jonah Placid try and Debreczeni's boot, the hosts raced into a 16-0 lead inside 30 minutes.
However, the Reds hit back before the break through Nick Frisby's 34th minute try, followed by Jake McIntyre's conversion and penalty, to reach half-time with only a six-point deficit.
A brace of Debreczeni penalties early in the second half extended Melbourne's advantage to 12, before the visitors went on a run of 13 unanswered points to snatch a slender lead.
But Debreczeni had the final word by kicking his sixth penalty of the contest on 69, and the Rebels held on to claim their second win of the new season.
Queensland's only try in the 14th minute came from the hands of Placid who made the most of Ben Meehan's grubber kick.
Frisby's opening touchdown for the Reds followed Waita Setu's break, and subsequent offload, while hooker Andrew Ready added a second Queensland try on the hour going over from a rolling maul.
But despite outscoring the Rebels two tries to one, the Reds remain without a victory this year and Melbourne skipper Sean McMahon admitted: "The Reds were out to smash us and put us on the back foot and we put in a real gutsy effort. I couldn't be more proud of them."
His opposite number with the Reds, Rob Simmons, added: "We knew we were right in it right through the whole game and it was just our discipline that let us down from start to finish.
"But I'm really proud of the guys but that's the start and we have to get better again."
