A clinical lst quarter helped Port Douglas see off a plucky North Cairns outfit in a topsy-turvey clash at Griffiths Park.
The Crocs kicked five majors and held the Tigers scoreless to cruise to a 17.11 (113) to 10.6 (66) win that was far closer than the scoreboard suggested.
Port Douglas coach Brad Cooper aptly described it as an "arm-wrestle' - North Cairns had the better of the first and third terms, but the Crocs took control when it mattered most.
"In all, we probably only had 10 minutes of better footy than them," he said.
The Tigers stormed out of the blocks to lead by three goals in the early stages but managed to undo all their hard work when the Crocs booted six unanswered goals in the second quarter.
However, they did well to recover and managed to claw back from 34 points down to be within stricking distance at the final change.
While it was all Port Douglas from then on, the performance came in stark contrast to the 104-point belting the Tigers suffered last time they met the Crocs.
"They ran away with it in the end - we couldn't keep up the intensity in the last quarter and they have some good players who did," North Cairns coach Dave Arnfield said.
"You're never going to be happy when you don't win but we showed some signs that we can compete.
"I'm much more pleased (with our progress) than six or eight weeks ago."
The Tigers have slipped to fifth on the ladder as a result but Arnfield said he was "heartened" with the effort.
"Now it's just about sticking with it for longer," he said.
For the Crocs, it was defensive rearguard that led the way with Declan Kelly the clear standout.
Kelly was a menace across the half-back line, chopping off countless attacking raids from North Cairns in his second game back after a month-long injury lay-off.
"I haven't seen a stats sheet yet but I'm pretty sure he had over 10 marks," Cooper said.
"He definitely prevented them from scoring quite a bit. Our backline was clearly our (biggest) strength."
Port Douglas assistanct coach Adam Boone also had a day out, slotting six goals.
"He probably had the same amount of shots on goal as he usually does but he actually kicked them this week," Cooper said.
Both sides came through the match unscathed, with the Crocs hopeful of regaining full-back Ben McCartney following the bye weekend after he made his first appearance for nearly two months in the reserves.
Last Modified on 06/11/2014 14:20