St George Illawarra Dragons 10 vs Cronulla Sharks 6
Round 3 - Full Time :: March 29th, 2009 4:00pm
Venue: Jubilee Oval, KogarahReferee: Gavin Badger & Tony De Las Heras
Sideline Officials: Steve Chiddy & Russell Turner
Video Referee: Tim Mander
St George Illawarra Dragons (10)
Tries: Ben Hornby, Ben Creagh
Goals: Jamie Soward (1/2)
Cronulla Sharks (6)
Tries: David Simmons
Goals: Luke Covell (1/1)
Welcome to Kogarah for the big local derby between the St George Illawarra Dragons and the Cronulla Sharks.
There are plenty of milestones today - the return to Kogarah, Trent Barrett's first game against the Dragons, the 200th game for Wendell Sailor, the 1,000th game for the Cronulla Sharks - and there's also the coaching battle between Wayne Bennett and Ricky Stuart.
Here are the confirmed line-ups:
DRAGONS: 1. Darius Boyd 19. Brett Morris 3. Beau Scott 4. Matt Cooper 5. Wendell Sailor 6. Jamie Soward 7. Ben Hornby (c) 8. Jarrod Saffy 9. Dean Young 10. Michael Weyman 11. Matt Prior 12. Ben Creagh 13. Jeremy Smith
Interchange: 14. Dan Hunt 15. Neville Costigan 16. Mathew Head 18. Luke Priddis
SHARKS: 1. David Simmons 21. Mitch Brown 3. Ben Pomeroy 4. Blake Ferguson 5. Luke Covell 6. Trent Barrett 7. Blake Green 8. Kade Snowden 9. Corey Hughes 10. Luke Douglas 11. Reece Williams 12. Anthony Tupou 13. Paul Gallen (c)
Interchange: 14. Reni Maitua 15. Grant Millington 16. Bryan Norrie 17. Tony Caine
KICKOFF - The Dragons will have first use of the ball.
1 min: David Simmons tries a spectacular leap to claim the kickoff but fumbles the ball as he lands.
3 min: HELD UP - Dean Young tries a bargeover on the last tackle but the Sharks are on hand to stop the try.
5 min: The Sharks try a short-side play on the last tackle, Luke Covell finds himself in a bit of space but can't link up with the support inside him.
8 min: A last-tackle bomb from Jamie Soward is far too deep and easily claimed by Mitch Brown in his own in-goal.
12 min: TRY St George Illawarra Dragons
The Dragons bust the Sharks up the middle with some sharp offloads - Jarrod Saffy looks set to score before being ankle-tapped, and on the next play Ben Hornby takes a short pass from Jeremy Smith and crashes over for the try. Jamie Soward adds the extras from in front.
St George Illawarra Dragons 6-0
13 min: Matt Cooper has left the field and headed straight up the tunnel with a possible ankle injury. Ben Creagh will move out to the centres.
16 min: The Sharks are awarded a penalty on their last tackle - they'll now start a new attacking set from 30 metres out.
17 min: Blake Green tries a grubber kick into the in-goal but Jamie Soward cleans it up easily and gets back into the field of play.
17 min: Injury update - Matt Cooper won't be back this afternoon thanks to a pulled hamstring.
19 min: Darius Boyd comes up with a great kick-return after a Sharks clearing kick, beating about 4 chasers on his way to the 30 metre line.
21 min: A penalty gives the Dragons a good attacking opportunity but they fumble the ball on only the second tackle.
24 min: Anthony Tupou tries to offload to Paul Gallen in heavy traffic only inches away from the Dragons tryline but the pass goes to ground and is knocked forward.
26 min: Blake Green tries to run the ball on the last from within his own half, but he's pretty easily claimed by the Dragons defence before throwing a risky offload that ends up with Ben Creagh.
27 min: Matt Prior tries a pretty aimless kick ahead with the Dragons on attack and Luke Covell covers it nicely.
29 min: Jarrod Saffy tries a nifty little inside flick-pass to Jamie Soward right on halfway but the Sharks come up with the ball.
31 min: Luke Priddis kicks the ball out on the full from just inside Sharks territory.
32 min: The Sharks are awarded a penalty 15 metres out and right in front of the Dragons posts - they take a quick tap.
33 min: Another Sharks penalty, only 7 metres out, they keep the pressure on ...
35 min: Ben Pomeroy loses the ball as he tries to force his way over the line - great defence from the Dragons after 4 consecutive sets from the Sharks.
37 min: Brett Morris gaps the Sharks with a 60-metre run from dummy half before linking up with Darius Boyd, but the return pass from Boyd to Morris is fumbled forward.
40 min: A forward pass from the Sharks gives the Dragons a scrum feed 45 metres out.
40 min: It looked like Jamie Soward was setting up for a field goal but Neville Costigan decided to run the other way from dummy half instead.
HALFTIME: Dragons 6 Sharks 0
Plenty of half-chances and near misses for both teams so far. There's plenty of space up the middle but execution is letting everyone down.
The second half is underway!
43 min: A fumble from Tony Caine means the Dragons will have a good attacking chance inside Sharks territory.
45 min: Consecutive attacking sets for the Dragons amount to nothing thanks to some pretty unimaginative options.
48 min: Trent Barrett hoists a last tackle bomb from his own 40 metre line that ends up going way too far and bouncing dead.
50 min: Time is called off as Trent Barrett is down receiving medical attention after getting an accidental knock to the head - they've called for the stretcher.
50 min: Play resumes - the Dragons had been awarded a penalty 10 metres out from the Sharks line but they've turned down the shot at 2 points.
51 min: NO TRY - Brett Morris dives across after taking a wide pass from Dean Young but Young's pass is called forward.
53 min: TRY Cronulla Sharks
Blake Green puts in a nice cross-field kick and David Simmons leaps high above Brett Morris before regathering the ball and scoring a very good try. Luke Covell has a conversion attempt from the sideline - and nails it!
6 all
57 min: The Sharks allow a very high Jamie Soward mid-field bomb to bounce, luckily for them it bounces straight into the arms of David Simmons.
58 min: The Dragons receive a last-tackle penalty right on halfway.
60 min: TRY St George Illawarra Dragons
Ben Creagh scores after finishing off a relatively simple backline play and crashing over the line. Jamie Soward pushes the conversion attempt wide.
St George Illawarra Dragons 10-6
64 min: The Sharks try yet another short-side play on the last tackle, this time it ends with a knock-on from Luke Covell.
66 min: Luke Douglas fumbles a pass with a gap and the tryline beckoning.
67 min: Jamie Soward hoists a high cross-field bomb and Luke Covell knocks it forward thanks to plenty of pressure from Wendell Sailor. The Dragons could wrap it up here with a scrum feed 10 metres out ...
69 min: Ben Creagh steams into a gap but leaves the ball behind - a let-off for the Sharks.
70 min: Anthony Tupou leaves plenty of Dragons in his wake with a storming 40 metre run up the middle but fumbles the ball as he's finally tackled.
74 min: Brett Morris comes up with an attacking Sharks kick on his own line and runs 55 metres up the touchline before being reeled in.
75 min: The Sharks get a 20 metre restart after a grubber kick into their in-goal beats a diving Brett Morris over the dead ball line.
78 min: The Sharks can't quite get themselves into a decent attacking position here - the Dragons are protecting their lead nicely.
80 min: Luke Covell throws a sloppy forward pass to nobody from dummy half - game over Sharkies.
FULLTIME: Dragons 10 Sharks 6
It wasn't pretty, but the Dragons have come up with a hard-fought win over their neighbours to record their second win of the season.
LeagueUnlimited.com Player of the Match
3 Points: Matt Prior
2 Points: Ben Creagh
1 Point: Anthony Tupou