Pride stand tall to down Dolphins

With a home semi-final position up for grabs for the Dolphins and the Pride fighting to keep their finals prospects alive, the match shaped as a cracker.

However, the visiting Pride side dominated from start to finish with the final scoreline of 24-16 flattering the Dolphins.

Kenneth Fonoti crossed for the Pride in just the fourth minute of play which must have sent the alarm bells ringing in the Dolphins camp.

Next, it was Peter Hola who was just too big and too strong for the Dolphins defenders who fell to the wayside like pins in a bowling alley.

Things didn’t get any better for Adam Mogg’s men when Evan Child strolled through the Dolphins defence to score and was followed shortly after Mark Rosendale crossed out wide.

The Rosendale try was the Pride’s third in 12 minutes which sent them to the break leading 20-4.

In the second half, the Dolphins had the advantage of the Pride being down to 12 men following the sinbinning of Nick Lui-Toso early in the half, but despite the advantage, the side couldn’t register any points.

The Dolphins eventually crossed when their best player Jayden Nikorima was over the line for a try in the 53rd minute.

Jeremy Hawkins scored a consolation late in the game for the Dolphins, but the game was put to bed in the 68th minute when Rosendale crossed for his second.

Too say the Dolphins didn’t come to play would be a huge disservice to the Northern Pride, who had done their homework on the Dolphins attack.

They seemed to know what the Dolphins were going to do in attack before the Dolphins did, and as a result, they had defenders waiting for the Redcliffe players in each attacking raid.

The Pride forwards were very physical and dominated the much-vaunted Dolphins pack; overall the visitors didn’t have a bad player in the pack.

For the Dolphins the standout was Nikorima who filled in at fullback for the injured Trai Fuller and didn’t let anybody down.

Lachlam Timm was also a strong performer for Redcliffe as well, continuing his good form in recent weeks.

Next week, the Pride take on the Burleigh Bears at Barlow Park in their Round 17 Harvey Norman Women in League Round.

The Dolphins will look to list when they clash with Souths Logan Magpies at Davies Park.