Dalby pile 108 points on lowly Goondiwindi

THE DALBY Diehards moved back into the top two of the TRL A-grade premiership with the biggest win of the season over Goondiwindi

CONTROLLED: Dalby five-eight Mitchell Taylor scored one of the Diehard's 20 tries. Picture: Sophie Volker

RUGBY LEAGUE: The Dalby Diehards maintained their unbeaten home record this season in the most emphatic way, with the largest win of the year on Saturday.

Going up against bottom of the table Goondiwindi, the Diehards scored 20 tries in a comfortable win.

The 108-6 victory will do wonders for Dalby's for and against, as they have moved back into the top-two on the table, with one round remaining.

Winger Alex Ambia bagged himself five tries to take his seasons tally to 15, with all but four Diehards crossing the line in the 102-point win.

Coach Kerry Carmichael said before the game he wanted his players to put in a solid performance for the last scheduled home game of the year and his men did not disappoint.

The Diehards flew out of the blocks in the opening quarter of the game, scoring five tries to take a 30-0 lead after 20 minutes.

Dalby piled on another 24 points in the half, before the men from Goondiwindi were able to have a moment for themselves, scoring their only try of the game on half-time.

The Diehard's relentless pressure on the Goondiwindi goal-line continued in the second half, with Dalby piling on another 54 points.

The win means all Dalby needs to do is defeat Toowoomba Brothers this weekend to secure a bye in the first round of the finals.

Carmichael said he was pleased with his side's performance, claiming it is the first time all season they were able to "put together a full 80 minutes of football”.

"It was the game we probably needed to have,” Carmichael said.

"We've had a tough six or seven weeks so to get a game where we played well and were able to work on a few things was good.

"We had a good crowd and we owed them a solid performance.”

Victory next week over Toowoomba Brothers would all but seal a bye in the first week of the finals and leave the Diehards one win away from the grand final.

Carmichael said his team would be focused on getting the win this week and letting all other results play out.

"We get the win this week and we get the bye which I think would be good for us,” he said.

"We have worked hard to get where we are and top two was our goal from the middle of the year.

"We will keep working on the little things at training and focus only on Brothers ahead of us.

"If we win this week then we will get the week off to regroup then probably play Valleys and are one win away from the final.”