The Force on the other hand were patient and solid in defence. The presure from their defence paid off for the Force as the Sharks defence paid off against the Force two weeks ago.

 

One has to ask however what happened to the Force in their first six rounds becuase if they had played like that they would have been a lot higher on the log.

 

Aside from the first 15 minutes of the game the Force dominated the Reds, scoring the first four tries of the match, and five in total, against their arch-rivals en route to one of their biggest wins in four years of Super Rugby.

The Force led 17-0 at half-time and put the seal on a memorable win with a try to Haig Sare after the final buzzer to cap a miserable night for the Reds, who also conceded 50 points against the Chiefs last weekend.

The loss was the fourth from as many away matches for the Reds this season and they haven't won in their last 19 games away from Brisbane in a drought stretching back to 2006.

It was another dirty night for the Reds, their hopes all but gone when Scott Higginbotham was sin-binned for punching the Force's Josh Valentine in the 53rd minute, just moments after he'd come off the bench with his side down 20-0.

The Force sealed the Reds' fate in the 60th minute, David Pocock dishing off to Tamaita Horua for the Force's third try, with Matt Giteau's conversion giving the home side a match-winning 27-0 lead that was extended by another five points when Ryan Cross scored his first try of the season in the 72nd minute.

The Reds couldn't capitalise on their opportunities and three times appeared to have breached the Force line for their opening try, including youngster Blair Connor twice in the space of a couple of minutes in the second half, only to be denied by the officials each time, before Connor finally produced a consolation try in the 74th minute.

Reds captain James Horwill said it was back to the drawing board for his team.

"We didn't turn up," he conceded.

"They dominated us at the breakdown and were very good tonight.

"We leaked too many points tonight and last week and we have to look at that."

Force captain Nathan Sharpe, who has played for the Reds, savoured a sweet victory."It was very satisfying tonight -- I thought we were outstanding," he said.

"I really enjoyed that one."

There was an early hint of things to come for the Reds when Berrick Barnes missed a long drop goal attempt in the 11th minute.

Former Force star Digby Ioane, who tried valiantly to lift his side throughout, broke the defensive line a couple of minutes later and threatened to set up a try, but Connor couldn't hang onto the pass.

The Reds had the early initiative but the Force quickly changed that, with Giteau opening the scoring in the 18th minute via a penalty, before exciting teenager James O'Connor burst through a Mark McLinden tackle in the 20th minute to score the game's first try, which Giteau converted for a 10-0 lead.

In the 31st minute Drew Mitchell, tipped to join the Reds next season, scored under the posts as the Force skipped clear.

The Reds were plagued by ball handling errors in the first half and to add further insult, Ioane was just inches away from a try when he was held up over the line after the half-time buzzer.

 

Final Score Force 39 Reds 7

Scorers

Force
Tries - O’Connor,  Mitchell,  Horua, Cross, Sare
Penalties -Matt Giteau 2
Conversions -Matt Giteau 3, O'Connor
Drop Goals -

Teams

Force :1. Pek Cowan,2. Tai McIsaac,3. Ben Castle,4. Tom Hockings,5. Nathan Sharpe (c),6. Matt Hodgson,7. David Pocock,8. Richard Brown,9. Josh Valentine,10. Matt Giteau ,11. Nick Cummins,12. James O’Connor,13. Ryan Cross,14. Scott Staniforth,15. Drew Mitchell

Reserves:16. Luke Holmes,17. AJ Whalley,18. Sam Wykes,19. Tamaiti Horua,20. Chris O’Young,21. Junior Pelesasa,22. Haig Sare

Reds : Mark McLinden, Blair Connor, Digby Ioane, Berrick Barnes, Rod Davies, Quade Cooper, Ben Lucas, Leroy Houston, Daniel Braid, Hugh McMeniman, James Horwill (c), Van Humphries, Laurie Weeks, Sean Hardman, Ben Daley.