IF yesterday's Cairns District Rugby League clash at Stan Williams Park had been a horse race, stewards would have called for swabs.

Ten minutes into the game, Brothers led 18-0 having scored three converted tries and Innisfail looked set for a routing.

But the Leprechauns fought their way back by halftime, gained the lead for the first time with just over 20 minutes remaining and sealed victory with a try in the dying minutes.

For the Leprechauns, it was a victory for perseverance.

"We could have turned it up when it was 18-0 but all the boys stuck to it and showed a bit of character," Innisfail coach Ben Hagan said.

"Some sides would have turned it up then but we've got a lot of character in the team and we've been training pretty hard over the last few weeks.

"As long as you believe in yourself, you can do anything, I suppose."

Innisfail finally opened its account in the 20th minute with a try to centre Nick Accatino but Brothers replied almost straight away through Nick Obodin to stretch the lead out to 22-6.

But Brothers errors allowed the Leprechauns back into the match and by halftime, the score was 22-16 and the visitors had momentum.

Hagan said he stressed completion and defence during the break.

While an Innisfail error from the kickoff handed Brothers the early lead, the Brethren returned the favour just after halftime, fumbling the second-half restart with James Slater scoring the first of his three tries in the 43rd minute to reduce the margin to two points.

An Innisfail error inside its own half led to a Brothers try minutes later but it was only a temporary reprieve for the home side with Slater scoring twice more to put the Leprechauns in the lead for the first time with just over 20 minutes remaining.

Brothers were their own worst enemies in the closing stages, making mistake after mistake inside their own half to pile on the pressure.

"After the first 20 minutes where we got to 18-0, we were playing good football, then the last 60, we completed (poorly) - the second half was seven from 17 sets," assistant Brothers coach Jaime McIntosh said.

"We were always down in our own half, so we didn't really give ourselves a chance of playing."

Innisfail's forwards laid a tremendous platform with Peter Falefuti, in particular, chewing up the metres for his side.

Leprechauns sealed the win in the 78th minute with a try to big Adam Fischera.

"A lot of guys played more individual and that was reflected in the score," McIntosh said.

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