The second half yips are gone for the St George Illawarra Dragons for at least this week, as they ran out 38-12 winners over an injury-hit Dolphins side in Wollongong.
An early penalty goal was what the Dolphins were hoping would add to the scores but from long distance, Jamayne Isaako had it waved away but it wasn't long before the Dolphins winger was on the board when he had no space to work with when he went for the line trying to get it down in the corner.
The Dragons hit back soon after when repeated sets began to mount and Jacob Liddle took advantage out of dummy half to get over from close range. The Red ‘V' soon took the lead when big man Blake Lawrie had too much strength going to the line to beat the Dolphins defence to score.
A strange decision to go for penalty goal just before half time for the visitors closed the scoreline to 12-8.
It was one-way traffic for the second half with the Red ‘V' doing something that their opposition couldn't, take advantage of the howling southerly in the Gong. The Dragons opened the scoring not long after the resumption of play when a bouncing ball proved all sorts of issues for Hamiso Taubai-Fidow at the back and Zac Lomax got to it first to score.
The defence from the Dolphins was struggling and Ben Hunt strolled through a wide gap in the defence after the visitors were in two minds about what the Dragons were looking to do in attack and Hunt went straight through.
Ben Hunt magic put Mikaele Ravalawa over for his first with a long pass out to the right before his second came through some silky hands with Ben Hunt and Jack Bird combining. The Dragons lead 32-6 at this stage.
Despite having a player sin binned in between the two Ravalawa tries, the Dolphins turned on the style and flair when Jamayne Isaako was able to get on the outside of the Dragons defence and put on the afterburners before finding the Hammer who had too much speed to get himself over in the corner.
The Dragons finished the scoring with under 5 minutes to go when Tyrell Sloan was in open space after an offload and despite some tough and desperate defence Sloan was able to plant the ball down.
The victory would be a massive confidence booster for the Red ‘V' who head up to the Gold Coast for a second clash with the Titans this season, whilst the Dolphins have a Good Friday clash with the Cowboys in Townsville.