Panthers Nightmare continues as Dolphins win back to back

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Dolphins v Penrith Panthers

The seemingly never-ending nightmare at the foot of the mountains continues as the Dolphins ran riot all over the Panther's defence for 80 minutes in the 30-12 win at Suncorp Stadium.

The evening looked to start with great fortune for the Panthers as Dan Saifiti spilled the football within the first 15 seconds of the contest.

But as the Panthers soon found out, the Dolphins goal-line defence slid everywhere all night as Isaako and Tabuai-Fidow combined to shove Tom Jenkins into touch with Penrith's opening couple of possessions.

The Dolphins then hit the ground running as Herbie Farnworth and Hamiso torched the Panther's defence for the opening score.

Penrith went back to their formulaic defensive patterns as seen with multiple hard hits from Liam Martin, one of which led to Daniel Saifiti's second error of the night.

The Panthers hit back as Nathan Cleary sent through a delicate grubber kick that sat perfectly for Casey McLean to tie the score at 6 a piece.

No matter how far left or right the Panthers shifted the ball the Dolphin's defence would not break, being orchestrated by the conductor at the back in their custodian The Hammer.

With 15 minutes before the break and just the lone tackle inside the Panther's half, The Dolphin's inaugural marquee signing once again sliced through with the accompanying Jake Averillo sending him for a try double.

A few brain explosions from Penrith eventually resulted in Paul Alamoti being sent from the field after failing to make a genuine attempt to wrap his arm and contact direct to the head with moderate force.

Off the back of a 12-man defensive line, the Dolphins went coast to coast sending Jake Averillo over in the broadcast side corner of the ground. Isaako, maintaining his mantle as one of the league's best goal kickers currently, bending it from touch to further the lead, which at 18-6, remained so til halftime.

The Dolphins started the second half much like the first, this time with some soft hands from both interchange forwards Josh Kerr laying a peach on for Connelly Lemuelu. The Redcliffe-based club extended their lead to 18 points.

A near-half hour of scoreless footy was broken in the most bizarre of circumstances as Jack Bostock thought he was playing for the Brisbane Roar, sending it across his own in-goal only for Moses Leota to fall onto it for easily the simplest try of his career.

But on this night, the Dolphins simply just arrived and played much better footy as the star of the show Hamiso Tabuai Fidow finished his 5-star night with a hat-trick in a fantastic long-range effort.

The Dolphins have the joys of playing the Storm in their next start. As for Penrith, they stay on the road and head to Allianz to play the Roosters whom they lost to begin this horrid run of form.

Dolphins 30 - Penrith Panthers 12

Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Milton / Yuggera-Turrbal
Crowd: 19103
Halftime Score: Dolphins 18 Penrith Panthers 6

LeagueUnlimited.com Players of the Match:
3 points - Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow
2 points - Jake Averillo
1 points - Isaiya Katoa

DOLPHINS (30)
Tries: Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow (3), Jake Averillo, Connelly Lemuelu
Conversions: Jamayne Isaako (5/5)

PENRITH PANTHERS (12)
Tries: Casey McLean, Moses Leota
Conversions: Nathan Cleary (2/2)


See how it happened in our Match Centre