Dolphins Down Jets

The Pepsi Dolphins travelled to Bendigo Bank Oval at Ipswich to take on their 2002 grand final opponents the Ipswich Jets in very hot conditions. The score line was never a concern to Dolphins coach Neil Wharton who told his troops to concentrate on completing their sets and getting to their kicks in the sheds before the game. With the temperature in the high 30?s there was a lot of drop ball which was to be expected with those conditions. The Dolphins opened up the scoring in the 5th minute when Danny Burke crossed for a try after a clever pass from five-eighth Shane Perry and Justin McKay converted to give the visitors an early 6-0 lead. Danny Burke crossed again in the 18th minute after some good line running and a clever offload from Ben Jones. Nathan Sologinkin had an impressive debut for his new club making some good metres from strong runs. Ipswich struck back in the shadows of halftime when a Shane Perry pass found the ground and Jets centre Damien Flint kicked ahead twice and won the sprint to the ball to make the score 12-4 to the Dolphins at Halftime. Ipswich started the second half like they ended the first when winger Gordon Rattler crossed in the corner to make the score 12-8.Three tries were scored in the space of seven minutes from the 62nd minute two by Redcliffe one by Ipswich. The first by centre Brian Jellick who pounced on a spilt bomb by Ipswich Adam Connolly who had an unhappy night under the high ball. The Jets replied when Steve West scored after a kick through and he converted his own try to make it an 18-14 scoreline with 13 minutes left on the clock. Winger Phil Shilvock finished the scoring in the 70th minute after Damien Richters put through a clever chip kick and regathered before passing to Shilvock who finished the move off. Trent Leis converted to make it 22-14. To show how bad the conditions were for football Redcliffe coach Neil Wharton made 28 interchanges including 18 in the second half to try and keep his players refreshed. Probably the most satisfying thing for the Dolphins was the form of debutants Gavin Cooper, Mark Brown, Nathan Black and Terry Jones who showed they would not be out of place in first grade if they are needed during the season. Best for Redcliffe Nathan Sologinkin, Michael Roberts, Adam Starr, Gavin Cooper and Shane Perry. In the lower grades the Dolphins took the honours in the colts 14-6 while the A grade was a 12 all draw. Redcliffe 24 (D.Burke 2, P.Shilvock, B.Jellick tries J.McKay 3, T.Leis goals) Ipswich 14 (G.Rattler, D.Flint, S.West tries S.West goal) The sides were Redcliffe Ipswich Justin McKay Adam Connolly Phil Shilvock Gordon Rattler Damien Richters Richard Allwood Brian Jellick Damian Flint Chris Bond Steve West Shane Perry Brendan Lindsay Michael Roberts Paul Cohen Nathan Sologinkin Brett Porter Matt Anderton Marc Fickling Adam Starr Danny McAllister Danny Burke Kyle Warren Ben Jones Dale Robertson Grant Flugge Brian McCarthy Interchange Interchange Andrew Wynyard Kerry Theurkauf Danny Green Troy Theurkauf Mark Brown Terry Iese Nathan Black Tim Gee Trent Leis Chris Scanlan Gavin Cooper Ail Chong-Nee Terry Jones Danny Fellingham