TIE BRIGHTENS DOLPHINS’ WEEKEND MOOD, SORT OF

THE Gold Coast Dolphins finally had something to cheer about heading into the festive season break by avoiding a Brisbane Premier Grade weekend washout.

Their last game for 2017 was not exactly a win, but a tie against Ipswich-Logan in the second of two T20 matches yesterday was a moralebooster for the club after a near weekend washout. After a demoralising loss to Valley in a 50-overs game on Saturday, the Dolphins went into 20-overs affairs yesterday at Bill Pippen Oval.

They lost the first one to Western Suburbs then had the frustration of splitting the points with a 145-all tie against Ipswich.

“Yes, it was encouraging to get that result but the boys are still very disappointed,” coach Damian Wallis said.

“It was definitely a game we could have won.”

Ipswich managed to score 35 from the final four overs, hence the downcast mood in the home side’s sheds.

After a poor display with the willow in the morning against Wests, the Dolphins regrouped and showed muchneeded grit against IpswichLogan in the afternoon clash.

Howard Biddle’s 21 was the only decent innings when the Dolphins crashed to be all out for 84 (17.2 overs) chasing 121 as left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann (4-23) stood out.

After the lunch break, however, things were much better as Liam Hope-Shackley (43) and Max Houlahan (51) defied the weekend trend with knocks against Ipswich.

The Dolphins made it to 7-145 after Hope-Shackley hit six fours and a six.