The Bulimba Bulldogs warmed up for their assault on this year’s Brisbane Second Division finals series with an emphatic 58-6 win over Capalaba Warriors on Saturday at the Balmoral Recreation Reserve.
Bulldogs cult figure Tai “The Chief” Betham was unstoppable in this game with the Samoan warhorse crossing for three tries in the one-sided match.
With a mere 47 seconds on the clock, Bulldogs fullback Mason Clarke found open space early on to cross for the first try of the game, gliding through the Warriors defence to score.
Betham was a man on a mission for the home side’s last fixture game with his trademark run; skittling Capalaba players like ten pins to crash over and score.
From the first minute to the last, Bulimba were too classy.
Replacement forward Lincoln Fisher added two back-to-back tries off the back of some clever kicking by the experienced Cameron Joyce which saw the home side blow the scoreline out to 24-0.
Capalaba however finally did respond in the 33rd minute of play, with Warriors centre Nathan Tanna palming off some Bulldogs defence to cross in the corner.
Things went from bad to worse for the Warriors though in the second half, with Betham again ram-raiding his way up the field. A 50m run saw the prop gallop his way through to cross over.
Bulldog Joyce – always dangerous with the ball – crossed next as he chose to dummy to the line and slip under some terrible Warriors defence to extend the lead to 36-6.
At this stage of the game, the Bulldogs were in full control. The Warriors did show a lot of heart to compete with the home side, however were outclassed.
Capalaba’s Gareth Jones, Tanna and John Kyprios were the pick of the visiting side, however right across the park the Warriors were struggling with the pace of the game.
The level of play was epitomised by the next try. A loose pass went to ground and Betham ever the poacher, scooped it up and jetted away for his hat-trick for the afternoon.
With a Warriors player sin binned late in the game, Bulldogs centre Jarrod Kendall notched up the half century scoring a brilliant try outwide, after playing what was one of his best performances all year.
Kendall was also superb with the boot, notching an impressive 9 from 10 goals for the Bulldogs.
The last try to the Bulldogs did however belong to centre Bryce Richards, who went in untouched through some Warriors defence to score and see the Bulldogs charge into this year’s finals series full of confidence.
Final Score: Bulimba Valleys 54 def Capalaba Warriors 6
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