FRANKSTON Dolphins coach Simon Goosey said when the going gets tough, good players stand up. Unfortunately, not many Dolphins answered his call as - after four narrow losses to quality teams - the dam wall broke in embarrassing fashion against the Northern Bullants on Sunday.

A healthy crowd rolled in to Frankston Park to see the last home game of the year and the Dolphins' improved form, but it was the Bullants, fresh off a poor showing of their own the previous week, who put on a show, destroying the Dolphins to the tune of 120 points. Club stalwarts could only think of last year's debacles at Casey and Box Hill as worse defeats.

The Bullants kicked with the wind in the first quarter and piled on five goals to none, with Carlton's Brad Fisher booting four of his 10 for the day.

If it hadn't been for the strong aerial work of defenders Marc Westcott and Daniel Campisano, things could have been much worse.

In the second quarter, the Dolphins rediscovered their brand of tough footy, putting the Bullants under immense pressure. But poor conversion again hurt the peninsula boys and two late goals to the visitors saw them win the quarter and take an eight-goal lead into the long break.

The third quarter was painful for the home fans as Northern kicked nine goals to none, pushing numbers back to cut off every Dolphin attack, and then running the ball with a precision for which their opponents had no answer. While the last quarter was an even affair, the damage was well and truly done.

There were few bright spots for Goosey to reflect upon after the game, but Michael Hibberd (42 possessions, two goals) and Luke Potts (37 possessions) were excellent.

The Dolphins won clearances on the day and had more inside fifties in the second and fourth quarters, but their lack of hardness and leadership left Goosey disappointed.

"This was another one of those games, one of three games that I couldn't

really get positives out of," he said.

"It just shows that we need experience, and more hardened bodies from another pre-season. I was extremely disappointed. We really missed our skipper [Paul Kennedy], we just needed that experienced leader on the field."

While Matthew Clark, Mark Baguley, Warwick Miller, Ben Crowe, Shane Hockey, Jake Greely and Tommy Simpson tried hard, the Dolphins had few winners and will have to re-group before taking on ladder-leaders Williamstown this Sunday.