Source : the age
Suddenly it’s all Dolphins, as the visitors throw the ball around in a bid to find a try that will put them in front. They come up short with one set, with Taine Tuaupiki bringing down Kulikefu Finefeuiaki on the last tackle.
But they don’t need any tackles on their next set – Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow producing a magical run from a Warriors kick, drifting left then bursting past Jacob Laban for a line break, linking up with Herbie Farnworth, who lofts a pass back inside for Tabuai-Fidow to score a brilliant long-range try.
It’s a gutsy comeback from the Dolphins, who now have a four-point lead after scoring three tries to one so far.
Dolphins 20, Warriors 16 with 11 minutes left
Both games between these teams so far this season have been decided by two points – the Warriors won 20-18 on Anzac Day in Wellington, the Dolphins beat them 26-24 at Suncorp Stadium in June – and this game still feels like it’ll go down to the wire. It’s still just one try apiece, with penalty goals giving the Wahs an eight-point buffer going into the final quarter of the contest.
The Dolphins are now throwing the ball around from inside their own half and get inside the Warriors’ 30 metres on the last tackle – and a wild left-side shift results in the ball deflecting off a Warriors’ defender’s hands, finding the turf, then going to Herbie Farnworth who beats two defenders to score.
Jamayne Isaako slots the conversion and the gap between the sides is once again back to two points.
Warriors 16, Dolphins 14 with 17 minutes left
For a game featuring two of the NRL’s most dynamic attacking teams, it’s a bit of shame that this one is being decided by discipline. The Dolphins are losing the penalty count (9-4), six-again count (5-3) and error count (7-4), and they trail by eight points.
They are still more than capable of stringing together a few quick tries if things go their way though.
Now the Dolphins use a challenge after Kurt Donoghoe loses the ball in a tackle, the visitors arguing Kurt Capewell had stripped the ball, but the bunker rules it’s a knock on and the Dolphins’ frustrations continue (and that error count is now 8-4).
Warriors 16, Dolphins 8 with 24 minutes left
Connelly Lemuelu is having a bad second half, the Dolphins forward now penalised for obstructing a kick chaser.
Again, it looks a bit of a harsh penalty, but the Warriors are scoring most of their points through goals at the moment and they’re not stopping now. Taine Tuaupiki kicks another one.
Warriors 16, Dolphins 8 with 27 minutes left
Having already lost one starting centre to a hamstring injury before kick-off, the Warriors’ other centre Ali Leiataua goes down hurt after being caught in a hip drop tackle from the Dolphins’ Connelly Lemuelu. Lemuelu is put on report, but not sin binned – to the chagrin of the Warriors crowd – and then Kodi Nikorima is penalised and put on report for a high tackle on Jackson Ford.
The hosts have somehow only scored one try tonight but Taine Tuaupiki has kicked three penalty goals and he adds a fourth now. The Dolphins have one as well; this feels like a rugby union game.
Ford appeared to hurt his leg in the Nikorima tackle and leaves the field.
Warriors 14, Dolphins 8 with 29 minutes left
Adam Pompey, Kurt Capewell and Selwyn Cobbo have returned from the sin bin and we’re back to a 13-on-13 contest, and the Warriors get the first scoring chance of the second half when Jackson Ford outjumps Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow to bring down an attacking bomb, then gets a pass away.
The Warriors spread the ball left and appear to score in the corner, but the bunker finds Ford passed the ball from the ground after being tackled. Usually that would mean a penalty, but the bunker also spotted a Tabuai-Fidow knock on in the aerial contest so it’s a scrum to the Warriors.
The Dolphins defend their line well and the Warriors turn it over when Kurt Capewell throws a forward pass out of dummy-half to a charging Demitric Vaimauga.
Warriors 12, Dolphins 8 with 35 minutes left
It hasn’t quite been the free-flowing, high-scoring contest we may have expected with these sides, with a combined 18 penalties and six-agains plus eight errors and three sin bins making it more of a stop-start affair. It’s been intense, and the Dolphins will continue to have a one-man advantage for the start of this second half.
But the Warriors have the scoreline and the crowd on their side, and if they can stay in front after 80 minutes they’ll be one win away from reaching the grand final.
The Dolphins kick off the second half now.
Warriors 12, Dolphins 8 with 40 minutes left
The Warriors go close to scoring, even with only 11 men on the field, when Chanel Harris-Tavita sends up a bomb that is caught by Ali Leiataua before the centre is wrapped up by Herbie Farnworth.
A Jeremy Marshall-King error hands possession back to the Warriors, who are on the hunt for more points in the final minutes of the first half.
Te Maire Martin threatens with a weaving run that beats a couple of defenders, then a couple of plays later he rolls a grubber into the in-goal which Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow takes over the dead-ball line.
The goal-line dropout gives the Warriors one final set before half-time. Wayde Egan almost breaks the line but as he looks to pass to Jackson Ford, the back-rower is brought down by a Dolphins defender without the ball.
That’s another penalty to the Warriors, right in front of the posts, and Taine Tuaupiki kicks another goal.
Warriors 12, Dolphins 8 at half-time
The Warriors give away another penalty now, Alofiana Khan-Pereira running in the way of Max Plath as Plath chased down a bomb that Taine Tuaupiki probably had covered anyway.
That means another Dolphins set inside the Warriors’ 20 metres, and a couple of tackles later the hosts give away a six-again, then a penalty.
The chaos continues as Kulikefu Finefeuiaki coughs up a knock on to let the pressure off, then when the Warriors take the ball out of their own end Jackson Ford is tipped upside down in an Isaiya Katoa tackle that leads to players from both sides rushing in.
Katoa is put on a report, and then Selwyn Cobbo and Kurt Capewell are both sent to the sin bin for their part in the affray.
That’s three in the bin and referee Adam Gee is struggling to keep this game under control.
Warriors 10, Dolphins 8 after 34 minutes
