SPORT DIGEST: Dragons crowned far north premiers
Around the grounds
Douglas United is the new Far North Community Division Two soccer champion after triumphing 2-0 against minor premier Stratford Dolphins in the Grand Final in Cairns on Friday night.
Dragon Ignacio Ipinazar scored in the 21st minute, although the goal was officially recorded as an own goal.
The Dragons then kept the top side at bay until the 73rd minute until there was some bad news for Stratford, with player Matt Murray sent off following a yellow card earlier in the match. Dragon Rafael Vihl then slotted one home not much over 10 minutes later.
Douglas had their own player sent off in the 89th minute, with Javier Puertos shown a red card, but it was too late by then for the Dolphins to make an impact on the scoreboard.
The Dragons party continued across the weekend, with some sore heads at work on Monday.
The club is aiming to nominate a Division One team for next year.
AFL Cairns
It was a nightmare weekend for the Port Douglas Crocs, with both the men’s and women’s sides bundled out of the premiership race.
The men’s minor premiers went down to North Cairns Tigers in shocking conditions at Cazalys Stadium in Cairns on Saturday, with constant rain making for a hard slog.
The Crocs failed to adapt to the conditions, still trying to chip around with their high-possession game instead of just forcing the ball forward at all costs.
With the slippery ball and strong winds, the plan came unstuck too many times.
The Crocs were still in the game at three quarter time, trailing by 14 points, but were blown away in the last quarter, going down 2.14 (26) to 9.16 (70).
The women, however, came within a few seconds of an upset win against Trinity Bulldogs.
Leading for much of the day, they let through two goals midway through the last quarter to concede the lead.
But they then scored a late goal and were streaming into attack when the siren sounded.
The final score was Trinity 2.4 (16) to Port Douglas 2.1 (13).
Gran Fondo cycling
The men’s 136km cycling race was a thriller, with five riders finishing within two seconds of each other in a field of more than 100 cyclists.
NSW rider Glen Wojcinski won the race with a time of 3 hours, 47 minutes and 53 seconds, with Queenslanders Kyal Velonias and Jadd Cohu second and third respectively.
In the women, Queenslanders took all three placings, with veteran cyclist Gabrielle Thomasz easily winning the 136km race in a time of 3 hours, 39 minutes and 20 seconds, about five minutes faster than Petra Anderson, with Leah Horstmann third.
Other results included:
100km race men’s winner: Jackson Starmer (NSW) 2.39.34, women’s winner: Chloe White (Qld) 3.00.27
60km race men’s: Andrew McKerracher (NT) 1.50.35, women’s: Paula Ewing (Qld) 1.58.44
48km race men’s: Tim Vallance-Webb (Qld) 1.39.06, women’s Phoebe Pembroke (Qld) 1.51.16
Hartley to Port Douglas Mountain Bike Race men’s: Vincenzo Mento (Qld) 1.40.42, women’s: Meredith Watkins (Qld) 2.13.00
E-bike race men’s: Scott Davis 1.37.29, women’s Kim Weston 2.33.00
Run Port Douglas
The inaugural Run Port Douglas half marathon was won by Queenslander Cody Williamson in a time of 1 hour, 13 minutes and 20 seconds, with fellow Queenslander Kate Wheaton winning the women’s race in 1 hour 25 minutes and 30 seconds.
There were more than 200 women runners in the half marathon and more than 260 men.
Other results included:
10km run men’s Luke Swindale (Qld) 35.17, women’s 42.19
5km run men’s William Grogan (Qld) 18.12, women’s Kira Pearl Dalgety (Qld) 22.09
2km men’s Pierce Williams (Qld) 8.17, women’s Matsumi Furuta (Qld) 5.48
Cricket
The Cricket Far North season started on the weekend, with Port Douglas Muddies entering two teams this year in the third and fourth grade competitions.
The thirds game, however, was washed out.
In the fourths match against Mareeba at Mareeba on Sunday, the Muddies lost the toss and were sent in to bat.
The team got away to a good start, with openers Dan Harris and Shaun Hollis putting on an opening stand of 95.
Harris (81no) carried his bat through the innings as Port Douglas posted 3/157 in 35 overs.
But Mareeba chased down the runs easily, finishing on 4/158.
Spinner Channi Singh was the best of the bowlers, taking 3/26 from 4.2 overs.
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