Jon Lewis
With the pressure of needing to win to ensure they could keep in touch with the top four, the Ray White Noosa Dolphins took on second placed Caloundra in the final home game last Saturday. Under the solid and consistent direction of Borore Horton at number 10, the Dolphins thrilled the crowd taking out the match 34-31 with a final second penalty goal.
Facing a strong fightback into the second half from the highly fancies Caloundra side, the Dolphins try line defence was exceptional, making up for the at times questionable mid field defence providing the visitors too many opportunities. Pleasing for coach Michael Phelan was the effort in face of the injury toll the club is facing.
“We started the match behind the eight ball having lost several first-string reserves that would have benched for us, to be compounded by the match ending injury to winger Tom Payne in the 7th minute. Our reserve half back moved onto the wing as a replacement. It’s a credit to those replacements we did have who were tremendous when they came onto the field,” Phelan said.
No nonsense workhorse lock Jonathan Davey again stood tall in what Phelan observed as his best performance this season in winning the man of the match honours.
Now sitting one point behind this weekend’s opponents Wynnum, Saturdays match at Wynnum is another must win for the Dolphins to remain in finals contention.
“Wynnum have improved immensely over the past couple of years and at home will be a big challenge for us. The pressure remains and it simply up to us from here on in. As they say, our destiny is in our own hands,” said coach Phelan.
In a top of the table battle for the Ray White Reserves, it was a disappointing result for the Dolphins going down 37-27 against Caloundra. The locals struggled to control the game and at times failed to stick to their game plan and structure. “Although they displayed glimpses of attacking brilliance, it wasn’t enough to hold out the skilled opponents,” said Coach Haydn Perugini.
Notwithstanding the result, player of the match Alfie Hill, Alex Tollis, Dan Cash and Josh Munro put in outstanding performances.
The senior women started the day positively with a strong 17-10 victory against their much more fancied opponents.
Matches all at Wynnum this weekend with amended match times:
1.30pm Reserve Grade
3pm A Grade
4.45pm Womens
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