REDCLIFFE
DOLPHINS 20
Tries: Phil
Graham 2, Michael Roberts, Adam Mogg
Goals: Michael
Roberts 2 (from 6 attempts)
Team: 1. Adam Mogg, 2. George
Wilson, 3. Jason Webber, 4. Phil Graham, 5.
Ricky Hewinson, 6. Rod West, 7. Michael Roberts, 8.
Troy Lindsay, 9. Craig O'Dwyer (c), 10. Russell
Lahiff, 11. Luke Scott, 12. Danny Burke, 13. Tony
Gould. Interchange: 14. Barry Denduck, 15.
Stuart Cruickshank, 16. Greg Cameron, 17. Andrew
Wynyard.
defeated TOOWOOMBA CLYDESDALES 10
Tries: Paul
Carige, Nathan Murphy
Goals: Damien
Quinn 1 (from
2 attempts)
Team: 1. Ken McGuinness, 2. Damien Quinn, 3. Danny
Bampton, 4. Paul Carige, 5. Steve Irwin, 6. Tony Duggan,
7. Nathan Murphy, 8. Kirk Reynoldson, 9. Nathan
Friend, 10. Damon Keating (c), 11. Darren
Ingram, 12. Michael Coorey, 13. Neale Wyatt.
Interchange: 14. Elia Tuqiri, 15. Ben Czislowski, 16.
Christian Robertson, 17. Josh Hancock.
Venue: Athletic Oval
Date: Saturday September 1
Referee: Tony Maksoud
Half-time: Redcliffe 14-4
Penalties: Redcliffe 7-6
Scrums: 6-all
When They Scored: 6 min: Redcliffe 4-0 (Graham
try), 17 min: Redcliffe 10-0 (Roberts try, goal), 26
min: Redcliffe 10-4 (Carige try), 31 min: Redcliffe
14-4 (Mogg try), 55 min: Redcliffe 14-10 (Murphy try,
Quinn goal), 74 min: Redcliffe 20-10 (Graham try,
Roberts goal).
Redcliffe are into
their third consecutive grand final after a determined
and gritty 20-10 win over Toowoomba at Athletic Oval
on Saturday. The Dolphins had to withstand a
Clydesdales onslaught in the second half (having led
14-4 at half time) and managed to hang on for a
tremendous victory. Centre Phil Graham came up with
the match winner when he dissected the defence and
sprinted away for his second try of the match.
Toowoomba now face Burleigh, after the Bears defeated
East Coast 30-23 in the elimination semi-final, in the
preliminary final at Athletic Oval next Saturday.
Phil Graham perfectly read a pass from Clydesdales
5/8th Tony Duggan and intercepted the ball to run in a
60-metre try to get Redcliffe off to the perfect
start. The pass was supposed to have gone to Danny
Bampton and the centre would have certainly scored for
Toowoomba. However, Graham snapped it up and nobody
was able to catch the talented young Dolphin.
Sadly for Bampton, his match did not last much longer.
He awkwardly fell to the ground and had to be taken off the field
on a stretcher with a knee injury. Danny
has had horrific problems with injuries over the past
couple of years and tragically looks to have to go
through yet another knee reconstruction.
Things didn’t get much brighter for Toowoomba with
Dolphins’ halfback Michael Roberts scooting around
the base of the scrum and showed great speed to score
another long distance try. Redcliffe were somewhat
lucky to get the scrum in the first place after George
Wilson appeared to knock the ball out of the grasp of
Damon Keating. Referee Tony Maksoud ruled Keating had
lost the ball and, shortly later, Roberts was
sprinting away for a Dolphins’ try.
Toowoomba finally penetrated the Dolphins’ tough
defensive line with a Paul Carige try in the 26th
minute. They got this perfect opportunity when
Redcliffe’s Ricky Hewinson dropped a bomb, forcing a
line dropout. After 3 consecutive sets in the
Dolphins’ half, Ken McGuinness threw a nice pass and
the ball bounced nicely for Carige to score in the
corner.
However, an error in the Clydesdales’ own half
minutes later, gave the Dolphins the chance to strike
back and they took it with open arms. Tony Gould
popped up a nice pass for Adam Mogg and he went over
the try line. Redcliffe were able to hang on for a
14-4 lead at half time.
The Clydesdales did most of the attacking in the early
stages of the second half and the Dolphins’ tight
defence held them out until Nathan Murphy broke
through to score beside the posts in the 55th minute.
Nathan Murphy scooped up an errant pass from Damien
Quinn and he crossed over the line.
It was a dour struggle for the rest of the half as
both teams tried desperately to break the
opposition’s line. Ricky Hewinson saved a certain
try when he mowed down Tony Duggan and prevented the
Clydesdales’ 5/8th from putting his team in front
for the first time in the game.
It was Phil Graham who turned out to be the winner for
Redcliffe. Graham cut through Michael Coorey and Ken
McGuinness to sprint away for his second try of the
match. He picked the right part of the field to make
the break as Coorey, normally a forward, had been
repositioned at centre and McGuinness had been
struggling with a head knock for most of the second
half. The Dolphins ran out eventual 20-10 winners.
It’s now up to Toowoomba to see if they can bounce
back and get another shot at Redcliffe to win this
year’s Bundy Gold Cup. The Clydesdales face Burleigh
next week and it will not be an easy task for the
minor premiers.
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