THE immediate post-game words said it all for Redcliffe.
“We’re still alive,” came the cries from the dressing shed.
As unlikely as it appears, the Dolphins’ 34-26 win over the Northern Pride at Innisfail keeps alive a finals miracle.
The grinding effort ensured the ISC giants have won six and drawn one of their past eight matches to close within three points of the sixth-placed Pride with two to play.
“We’re relying on them getting beaten every week so our chances are minimal,” coach Troy Lindsay said.
“But where there is light there’s hope.”
Redcliffe gave themselves a mountain to climb early as they tossed up a 10-0 deficit in no time.
“We didn’t start really well and that first try we gifted them,” Lindsay said.
“We didn’t look like we were in the game there in the first 15 minutes.
“They made a few errors that let us back in the game.
“And we fought our way back in to the game.
“Second-half was an arm wrestle until the death.”
In a worry for the Pride, Redcliffe big men Jon Green and Charlie Faingaa were able to punch holes through the middle of the park.
Solidifying a leaky defence, however, was the main task for the Far North visitors.
“We have been scoring enough points all along but I was more concerned with our defence,” Lindsay said.
“We knew at half-time we had to clean that up.
“We did a little bit and in the end we got the win.”
The Pride however, have two weeks to find a ruthless streak to guarantee they will play finals footy and will be looking for an improved performance this weekend when they face the Norths Devils at Bamaga’s Yusia Ginau Oval.
REDCLIFFE DOLPHINS 34 (Josh Beehag 2, Curtis Johnston 2, John Brady, Jon Green tries; Luke Capewell 5 goals) def NORTHERN PRIDE 26 (Sam Obst 3, Linc Port, Jordan Biondi-Odo tries; Jordon Biondi-Odo 2, Linc Port goals) at Callendar Park, Innisfail.
Final teams
Redcliffe Dolphins: 1. Marlon Doak 2. Josh Beehag 3. Tom Opacic 4. Aaron Whitchurch 5. Curtis Johnston 6. John Brady 7. Luke Capewell (c) 8. Charlie Faingaa 9. Darcy Etrich 10. Jon Green 11. Nick Ritter 25. Martin Cordwell 13. Tyson Cleal 14. Shane Pumipi 15. Joe Bradley 16. Tom Geraghty 23. Tristan Lumley
Northern Pride: 1. Hezron Murgha 2. Linc Port 3. Brett Anderson (c) 4. Justin Castellaro 18. Luke George 20. Ryan Ghietti 7. Sam Obst 8. Jack Svendsen 9. Jason Roos (c) 10. Patrick Kaufusi 11. Tom Hancock 12. Graham Clark 13. Ben Spina 19. Jordan Biondi-Odo 15. Brent Oosen 16. Sheldon Powe-Hobbs 17. David Murphy
