At the season's beginning, Colombo were one of the ASRL's 'jokes', and no one gave them a chance in hell of performing. But the tenacious Harlequins have done more than that, they finished second in the regular season and today play North Queensland for a shot at premiership glory.

North Queensland Dolphins Colombo Harlequins
1 Kris Radlinski 1 Luke Phillips
2 Joel Monaghan 2 Wes Davies
3 Brooke Martin 3 Aaron Moule
4 Jean-Emmanuel Cassin 4 Dennis Hickie
5 Linden Drummond 5 Graham Appo
6 Brian O'Keefe 6 Fourcade Abasse
7 Andrew Mehrtens © 7 Matt Dawson
8 Caesar Ramirez 8 Richard Fletcher
9 Justin Marshall 9 Shane Millard
10 Lars Gjolnier 10 Damien Fields
11 Leonardo Orelli 11 Martin Johnson
12 Colin Charvis 12 Paul Johnson
13 Gabrielle Yane 13 Felipe Contempone ©
++Interchange
14 Giovanni Piazza 14 Anthony Himmler
15 Rodney Howe 15 Pascal Jampy
16 Raif McCallin 16 Doug Rumble
17 Claude Sirvent 17 Bryce Edkins

The game started frantically, with both sides throwing caution to the win in their early exchanges. Colombo fans were flinching at the memory of their side's humbling at the hands of Canberra in the opening game of the finals. Ironically, the winner of today's game would go on to face the Chargers, giving Colombo extra incentive to get there. The fourth minute saw Graham Appo get across the line, but the video ref called a double movement to deny the Harlequins the opening try.

There was no denying them in the thirteenth minute, however, when Aaron Moule made an inspirational break to put Richard Fletcher in for the game's opening try. The Harlequins had been the better side of the opening quarter, with their side making easy metres through some intuitive passing from Matt Dawson. Fletcher's try was converted by Damien Fields, playing prop, to make it 6-0 to Colombo. The Harlequins stretched their lead further in the 26th minute, with Aaron Moule scoring a try of his own after setting up Fletcher's. This time it was Felipe Contempone who did the damage with a classy little chip and chase. The Argentinian came up with a brilliant catch pass off the bounce to flick it to Moule, who raced away untouched despite the pursuit of Kris Radlinski. Fields again converted to give his side a shock 12-0 lead. Despite Colombo's higher finish, many did not consider them a shot at a Division Two title. Those people were eating their words at this point.

The Dolphins tried desperately to score a morale boosting try as halftime approached, but even continued breaks from the Italian Connection (Caesar Ramirez and Leonardo Orelli) couldn't get them across the whitewash. It was painful to watch, really, as the Dolphins were continually denied by the bounce of the ball or poor refereeing. Halftime came with the favourites adrift 12-0.

HALFTIME: North Queensland 0 trail Colombo 12

Dolphins' coach Troy Haines made it crystal clear to his side that they'd need to open the scoring in the second half, whilst Chris Columbo was vehement that twelve points wouldn't be enough to seal a grand final berth. The Dolphins clearly took their instruction to heart, and they quickly capitalised on a somewhat lethargic start from the Harlequins. On the back of some poor handling from the visitors, Joel Monaghan took advantage of a three-two overlap to score his side's opening try in the 45th minute. Andrew Mehrtens showed his goal-kicking ability, converting from out wide to bring it back to 12-6.

From the kick-off, the Dolphins had equalised and blown the game right open. A failed short kick off put the home side in good field position, and a powerful run from Brooke Martin resulted in a marvellous solo try. The world's only registered female league player, Martin showed how elusive she could be to dance and weave her way through some threadbare defence and score adjacent to the posts. Mehrtens was quick to convert, and all of a sudden it was a 12 all ballgame.

In the 50th minute the Dolphins were denied a chance to steal the lead for the first time in the game when Kris Radlinski apparently soared above the pack to collect a Mehrtens' bomb and score. After several minutes of deliberation, however, it was ruled that Radlinski had knocked the ball forward into Dennis Hickie in the original leap. So often a team survives a scare and bounces right back, and Colombo did just that- Pascal Jampy monstering his way over to put his side ahead again. Fields' conversion had it at 18-12.

Enterprising football was the order of the day from this point, as both sides produced their best attacking football to try and storm it home. When Kris Radlinski pounced on a long range Brian O'Keefe grubber, mishandled by Luke Phillips, it was 18-16 and Mehrtens was given an easy shot at goal to equalise with only twenty minutes remaining. He did just that, and the fans were on the edges of their seats as it was 18 all heading into the final straight.

The Dolphins' superior skill and commitment began to shine through as the game wound towards a tense finish. Where Colombo had been enthusiastic in the opening quarter, it was the level headed Dolphins who were coasting home in the final quarter. North Queensland were thrice denied a potential match winner as the game wound down, with excellent defence from the Harlequins continually thwarting even the most promising raids. In the 73rd, Kris Radlinski knocked on when Mehrtens was perfectly set up for a field goal, and it was Colombo's turn to mount a raid. From the ensuing set, the Harlequins got into ideal field position, and Graham Appo calmly slotted a field goal over to steal the lead with only five remaining. Colombo were on track for a maiden grand final, up 19-18 with minutes remaining.

The need to play catch up football hurt the Dolphins, and when Linden Drummond threw a careless flick pass into touch- it gave Colombo an ideal chance to put the final nail in North Queensland's coffin. It took only two tackles, with Bryce Edkins' bullocking run allowing Damien Fields to simply dart from dummy half to secure victory for his chargers. The resulting conversion saw the fulltime scoreline finish at 25-18. A number of North Queensland's retiring players, including local legend, Linden Drummond, were clearly distraught at losing- whilst Colombo's 'unknowns' celebrated their vindication.

FULLTIME

Colombo Harlequins 25
Damien Fields
Aaron Moule
Richard Fletcher
Pascal Jampy
Fields 4/4
Appo 1 fg.

defeated

North Queensland Dolphins 18
Joel Monaghan
Brooke Martin
Kris Radlinski
Mehrtens 3/3

PoM Points
Felipe Contempone...............3
Raif McCallin........................2
Linden Drummond.................1

Stats
Penalty Count
North Queensland Dolphins- 3 : 9 -Colombo Harlequins

Possession (%)
North Queensland Dolphins- 46 : 53 -Colombo Harlequins

Time in Opposition Half
North Queensland Dolphins- 44 : 36 -Colombo Harlequins

Handling Errors
North Queensland Dolphins- 12 : 19 -Colombo Harlequins

Completion Rate (%)
North Queensland Dolphins- 60 : 59 -Colombo Harlequins

Tackles
North Queensland Dolphins- 216 : 210 -Colombo Harlequins