Dolphins inflict win over Pirates

The Pirates travelled to Stockland Park to take on fourth-placed Kawana with plenty of confidence coming off the previous weekend’s win over Maroochydore, however injuries and illness took their toll on the young Pirates, with the Dolphins inflicting a comprehensive 35-14 victory over the fifth-placed Pirates.

The unavailability of key men Steve Rameka, Michael Stewart, Noel Goldthorpe and Rodney MacIntosh meant the Pirates took to the field with plenty of fresh faces. Moses Mbye and Dylan Crawford-Window stepped up from under 18s to make their debuts in A grade.

With a strong breeze behind them, the physical Dolphins dominated the early exchanges with some bullocking runs and clever kicking to jump out to a 16-0 lead inside 20 minutes.

However, following some sustained pressure from the Pirates and some good lead-up work by front rowers Colin Green and Trent Heathwood, Moses Mbye was able to poke his nose through the Kawana defence and offload nicely to Angus Stewart who was able to crash over out wide to continue his try-scoring heroics, which has now netted him five tries in three weeks.

Kawana finished the half the stronger however by making multiple line breaks and scoring a converted try and then slotting a field goal to bring the halftime score to 23-4.

With a strong belief among the Pirates that the strong breeze would assist them in the second half, Green and Crawford-Window led the charge downfield, which resulted in early points through Troy Chisholm on the left wing.

The Pirates were gaining ascendency and forcing the Dolphins into mistakes, yet could not turn possession into points. Mid-way through the second stanza emotions boiled over and a Dolphins player was sin-binned as a result.

This allowed the Pirates to push back downfield and some quick thinking on the last tackle saw a wonderful inside ball from five-eighth Zach Friend pounced upon by debutant Mbye who flew through the gap and registered his first try in the top grade.

The possibility of a come-from-behind win was dealt a blow with a mounting injury toll which saw the loss of key players Sean Pickup, Anthony Zipf and Dave Samson.

The Dolphins were good enough to take advantage of this and scored a further two tries in the last 15 minutes of play to secure the win.

Overall, although not the result players or supporters would have been looking for, there was plenty of character on show for all to see with many players carrying niggling injuries playing through pain for their teammates.

Best for the Pirates on the day were tireless props Green and Heathwood and rookie fullback Mbye. Veteran Angus Stewart also worked hard, as did diminutive hooker Mitch Melmeth and promising young backrower Curtly Hope-Hodgetts.

The Pirates will now look to bounce back next week at home against the Caboolture Snakes to finish the regular season on a high note.

Reserve grade hit the field with a couple of big names out but it was great to see all nineteen players put their hands up in a gutsy effort – including under 18s player Dylan Crawford-Window who fronted in all three grades on the day – great effort and well done.

With a huge breeze at their backs, the boys got of to a good start with tries scored by Eddie Grimshaw, Shah Rogers and Sam Walls. The Dolphins fought back to only give us a four point start at the break.

The next twenty minutes saw the Dolphins on a roll, but a solid performance by all forwards and a late try by Benny Bolton sealed the game, cementing a semi-final spot for the season.

The Pirates won the day 32-24.

Great effort by Eddie Grimshaw, Sam Walls and Mark Cross for picking up players awards.

Under 18s put in a brave effort against a very strong Kawana side going down 46-10, the boys playing above their weight. This team is admired by the club for the way they keep playing and training with enthusiasm, after regularly losing key players called up to the senior teams. Great effort boys.

Club president, Chris O’Grady, is very pleased to see coach Dane Campbell recovering well and on behalf of the executive, committee and players would like to announce Dane’s nomination and acceptance as next season’s A-grade coach.

Last game of the season is at home at Pirate Park Tewantin next Sunday August 22. Come along and support your local team.

Go The Pirates.

The possibility of a come-from-behind win was dealt a blow with a mounting injury toll which saw the loss of key players