It was a bitter end to what was a seemingly positive week for SP PNG Hunters Coach Paul Aiton, the fact that the Hunters were two from two with a bye and having a strong home advantage, the Coach had faith in his team which are placed 10th on the Hostplus Cup Ladder.
He had faith in his side would that they would topple the 2nd placed Redcliffe Dolphins in round six of the 2024 Hostplus Cup on Saturday in Port Moresby.
But all the positive vibes during the week came crashing down in the second half yesterday, with the Hunters 20 points to 12 lead chased down and overtaken by a more determined Redcliffe Dolphins outfit.
The Dolphins ran in five unanswered tries back to back in the second half, but to rub salt to the wounds, Dolphins halfback Joshua James took a practice field goal which felt unnecessary, but it went in anyway, hence the end result 39 points to 20.
At the post match Media Conference Standin Captain Jamie Mavoko sat as Coach Paul Aiton answered questions on the teams poor performance.
Aiton said he for the first time gave the team a strong no-nonsense post match talk to the 18 players after the match, you could see the disappointment on Aitons face whilst being seated.
When Sport Kona asked Aiton if there was going to be any changes to the side after the dismal performance, he said he will make the necessary changes, but he also mentioned that he had faith in the players that took the field, but again he was very disappointed with the finish.
"I believe in these 18 players I know they can win the top teams in the competition but its not happening," Aiton said.
"I think highly of these players, I know how good they are, I've see how they play and they are a good team, that's why its hard to see scores like that, seeing teams go against us like that, we were good in moments of the game, we defended how we wanted to defend in moments of the game, but you cant win in moments of the game you have to be consistent," Aiton added.
He went on to say that three of the players in the match, Finley Glare, Alex Max and Koso Bandi were injured and they were out of interchanges as the game progressed to the backend, but Aiton didn't see that as a big contribution to the teams lackluster defense.
"Alex Max was injured during the match he had a back issue, and Koso Bandi has redone an ankle injury and Finley Glare was injured early in the match, and that really affected our interchange," Aiton said.