Gold Coast Dolphins celebrate finals berth with raging afterparty
“We’re the Gold Coast,” coach Chris Swan declared proudly after the match. “We know how to party.”
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The Gold Coast Dolphins have reached the Bulls Masters First Grade semi-finals for the first time since 2013 and are still nursing the hangovers to prove it.
The Dolphins entered the final weekend of the regular season with a simple finals equation needed: defend their total of 278 by bowling out Sandgate-Redcliffe, and their place in the finals was assured.
The Dolphins held their nerve to win by 30 runs, kicking off the wildest end-of-season celebrations seen since the club last qualified for the post-season in 2013/14.
“We’re the Gold Coast,” coach Chris Swan declared proudly after the match. “We know how to party.”
“We needed to call a search party, I’m not sure if we’ll get many to the training paddock on Tuesday but the boys enjoyed themselves (on Saturday night).
“The boys partied hard like only Gold Coasters know how.”
Nathan Lyons was the hero of the day with the ball, claiming four scalps from 23 overs with an economy rate of 2.65 for the innings.
Sandgate’s Charlie Hemphrey was the sole scorer of note for his side, posting the game’s top score of 118 but no other batsman could withstand the Dolphins bowling attack.
The afterparty raged late into the night but the young Dolphins never forgot that their greatest challenge lies ahead.
“There’s still plenty of room for improvement,” Swan said. “We’ve had an exceptional season, with Liam Hope-Shackley with five hundreds, Hugo Burdo with two hundreds, but if everyone’s honest only a handful of blokes can say they’ve been par performances.
“That’s the beauty of the post-season, you can put all of that to bed and focus on two games. You get those right and the rest of the season is irrelevant.”
The Dolphins take on University in Brisbane in a two-day semi-final clash.
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