Hunters rally late against Dolphins

59
198

PNG Hunters showcased the danger they present to their Intrust Super Cup rivals in a fighting loss to the Redcliffe Dolphins at Moreton Daily Stadium on Saturday night.

The Dolphins took advantage of a fast start to win 24-12, unloading four tries in the first 27 minutes before the Hunters clicked into gear with three tries of their own.

Highlights of Hunters’ three tries courtesy of PNGBUZZ TV #fromthesidelines

After two frustrating losses, coach Matt Church wanted his players to show the consistency that had stamped the Hunters as top-four contenders in the first month of the season. He got that wish after the slow start as the Hunters held the Dolphins scoreless for the last 53 minutes on a ground that has become one of the toughest for visiting Intrust Super Cup teams.

Junior Rau finished off a slick set move in the 36th minute that sparked the Hunters’ fightback.

Forward Benji Kot scored in the 65th minute and Rau crossed again in the 70th minute but wayward goalkicking against the perfect boot of Dolphins’ NRL playmaker Sean O’Sullivan prevented the visitors from bridging the gap.

“We set ourselves a task tonight with that slow start and we paid the price for not being able to build pressure,” Church said.

“They’re a big team and they tried to muscle up on us. We knew they would do that and we had to compete. We’d had a disjointed preparation but that’s how this year is.

“But we kept things positive at halftime and said that we were looking to compete to the end. This was a chance for us to show that consistency and we finished strongly.

“We showed a lot of energy and that was important for us. We always said that we would finish this season stronger than we start it and we’re still working towards our best football.”

The Hunters had struggled in their last two matches with injuries and suspension leaving them with only 17 and 18 players to choose from. They welcomed back some experience tonight in front of another large and vocal group of Hunters fans.

But the task was always going to be tough against a Dolphins team that had won 10 of its last 11 home matches.

The Hunters finished with an injury concern to Epel Kapinias, who aggravated an ankle problem that had disrupted his early part of the season. He left the field with three minutes to play.

The Dolphins finished with 12 men after Tyson Cleal was sent off for a shoulder charge in the 67th minute, colliding with Hunters prop Samuel Yegip from the re-start from Kot’s try.

That sparked the Hunters’ hopes of a fairytale comeback on the ground where they won their historic first match in the Intrust Super Cup seven years ago.

But the Dolphins had established too much advantage through tries to Jeremy Hawkins (11th), Lachlan Timm (16th) and captain Cameron Cullen (22nd minute).

When Viliami Vailea crossed in the 27th minute, the Dolphins had a huge head-start as they attempted to maintain their place in the top eight.

O’Sullivan, continuing his role with the Dolphins while he remains part of the New Zealand Warriors squad, delivered four crucial conversions.

The Hunters could be pleased with the performance of a spine that featured Edwin Ipape at five-eighth.

The Hunters return to their Runaway Bay base next week to take on the Townsville Blackhawks while the Dolphins travel to the Sunshine Coast to play the Falcons.

REDCLIFFE DOLPHINS 24 (Jeremy Hawkins, Lachlan Timm, Cameron Cullen, Viliami Vailea tries, Sean O’Sullivan 4 goals) bt SP PNG HUNTERS 12 (Junior Rau 2, Benji Kot tries) at Dolphin Oval.

Advertise here on PNGBUZZ - Contact us today

59 COMMENTS

  1. Simply a smiling visitor here to share the love (:, btw outstanding style. “Treat the other man’s faith gently it is all he has to believe with.” by Athenus.

  2. I’ve learn several excellent stuff here. Certainly worth bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how much attempt you place to make one of these magnificent informative website.

  3. excellent put up, very informative. I’m wondering why the opposite specialists of this sector do not understand this. You must continue your writing. I’m confident, you’ve a huge readers’ base already!

  4. I like what you guys are up too. Such clever work and reporting! Keep up the superb works guys I have incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it’ll improve the value of my web site 🙂

  5. My spouse and i were quite glad that Raymond could deal with his homework out of the ideas he gained in your site. It is now and again perplexing just to always be releasing information which most people could have been selling. And now we fully understand we have got you to appreciate for this. All the explanations you’ve made, the simple site menu, the friendships you can aid to create – it’s all excellent, and it’s leading our son and our family feel that the theme is exciting, which is incredibly serious. Thanks for the whole thing!

  6. I would like to thnkx for the efforts you have put in writing this blog. I am hoping the same high-grade blog post from you in the upcoming as well. In fact your creative writing abilities has inspired me to get my own blog now. Really the blogging is spreading its wings quickly. Your write up is a good example of it.

  7. Fantastic post however I was wondering if you could write a litte more on this subject? I’d be very thankful if you could elaborate a little bit more. Cheers!

  8. My coder is trying to persuade me to move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the costs. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using Movable-type on a number of websites for about a year and am concerned about switching to another platform. I have heard good things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can transfer all my wordpress posts into it? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

  9. I’m really enjoying the design and layout of your blog. It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more pleasant for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a designer to create your theme? Excellent work!

  10. Hi my family member! I want to say that this post is awesome, great written and come with approximately all significant infos. I?¦d like to look extra posts like this .

  11. I’ve learn several just right stuff here. Certainly worth bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how much attempt you set to create the sort of magnificent informative site.

  12. I’ve been surfing online more than 3 hours these days, but I by no means discovered any attention-grabbing article like yours. It’s pretty worth sufficient for me. Personally, if all website owners and bloggers made just right content material as you did, the net shall be much more helpful than ever before. “Dreams have as much influence as actions.” by Stephane Mallarme.

  13. Whats up are using WordPress for your site platform? I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and set up my own. Do you require any html coding expertise to make your own blog? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

  14. I was very pleased to find this web-site.I wanted to thanks for your time for this wonderful read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you blog post.

  15. With social media becoming a primary source of travel information, a single captivating photo has emerged as a vital tool for attracting tourists. For the MZ generation, factors like photo zones, upscale accommodations, trendy cafés, and restaurants take priority when 화성출장샵choosing travel destinations.

  16. You really make it seem so easy with your presentation but I in finding this topic to be actually something which I believe I’d by no means understand. It kind of feels too complex and extremely wide for me. I’m taking a look ahead for your next post, I will try to get the cling of it!

  17. The subsequent time I learn a blog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as a lot as this one. I mean, I do know it was my option to read, but I really thought youd have something fascinating to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something that you could possibly repair if you werent too busy searching for attention.

  18. Thanks for another wonderful post. Where else could anybody get that type of info in such an ideal way of writing? I’ve a presentation next week, and I’m on the look for such information.

  19. There are definitely quite a lot of particulars like that to take into consideration. That may be a nice point to carry up. I provide the ideas above as common inspiration but clearly there are questions just like the one you convey up the place an important thing can be working in honest good faith. I don?t know if best practices have emerged around issues like that, however I’m certain that your job is clearly identified as a fair game. Both boys and girls feel the impact of only a moment’s pleasure, for the rest of their lives.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here