Panthers fall to defeat at Dolphins

The Panthers slumped to a 30-12 loss to the Dolphins on Thursday night.

An enthusiastic effort fizzled out for the Panthers at Suncorp Stadium, as they were met by a dominant, defensively resolute Dolphins outfit.

The Panthers started on the front foot after forcing an error from kick-off, but it was the hosts who opened the scoring when Herbie Farnworth sliced through from the halfway line and found Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow in support.

The Panthers hit back in the 10th minute when Nathan Cleary spotted open space behind the goal-line defence, kicking for Casey McLean to score.

Cleary’s conversion levelled the scores at 6-6, but the remainder of the first half belonged to the Dolphins.

Tabuai-Fidow scored a second try near identical to his first, this time combining with Jake Averillo on the right edge.

The setbacks continued to roll in for the Panthers, as Paul Alamoti was sent to the sin bin for high contact.

The Dolphins punished the Panthers undermanned defence, as Averillo dived over in the corner.

Jamayne Isaako’s third successful conversion put the hosts ahead 18-6.

A penalty on the stroke of halftime invited Cleary to snap a two-point field goal attempt, but his effort was charged down.

The Dolphins momentum carried into the second half, and four consecutive set restarts put them straight on the attack.

After a prolonged period of defence, the Panthers eventually cracked as Josh Kerr combined with Connelly Lemuelu for the Dolphins’ fourth try.

The Panthers fought their way back into the arm wrestle in the second half, but were repeatedly unable to their way through the Dolphins defence.

Their breakthrough finally came in the 74th minute in bizarre fashion, when Jack Bostock’s attempt to kick dead kept the ball in play for Moses Leota to pounce.

There was no late comeback however, as the Dolphins capped off their night with Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow completing his hat-trick on full-time.