TRL FINALS KICK-OFF
Dalby holds composure against a battered Goondiwindi
ELIMINATION FINAL: Dalby has kept its season alive after a resounding victory over Goondiwindi in Saturday night’s TRL Premiership elimination final.
The Diehards prevailed 26-6 in a final that was more hard-fought than the scoreline suggests, with Goondiwindi left to pick up the pieces after injuries cruelled their night.
Dalby made the most of early possession inside Goondiwindi’s half, as Blake Mara drew in two defenders, before offloading close to the line to Steve Franciscus who strolled over the line untouched to open the scoring.
The Diehards received a fortuitous call just minutes later while attacking their opponent’s line again, and were able to score off the scrum through Travis Babington in the 20th minute.
The young five-eighth was able to slice his way through the defence and continue his hot-run of form after scoring a hat-trick last weekend.
As if the Boars task wasn’t hard enough down 12-0, their job was made harder with the loss of David McGrady and player-coach Mark Offerdahl in the 23rd and 25th minutes respectively.
Offerdahl was left reeling after an attempted tackle, suffering a dislocated shoulder in the process.
Despite the setbacks, Goondiwindi kept themselves in the contest, and ensured a thrilling second half was on the cards after fullback David Armstrong pounced on a wellweighted grubber from Adam Tribe to send them into the sheds down 12-6.
The second half started much the same for Dalby, with early possession and field position putting the Boars on the back foot.
They capitalised in the 50th minute after they were able to spread the ball wide in broken play, with Franciscus putting winger Alex Ambia over in the corner.
A Dylan Taylor penalty goal in the 65th minute gave the Diehards a handy 18-6 advantage, before they were able to put the result beyond doubt moments later.
They received another set of six on the Boars line after a field-goal attempt was charged down, but only needed one tackle as Mara coasted through some sloppy defence to send them through to next week.
For the Boars, they were left to reflect on a successful campaign that saw them rise from ninth on the ladder in 2018 through to a finals berth in the space of 12 months.
DALBY 26 (Steve Franciscus, Travis Babington, Alex Ambia, Blake Mara tries; Dylan Taylor 5 goals) defeated GOONDIWINDI 6 (David Armstrong try; Adam Tribe goal)