St George Illawarra Dragons 18 vs Newcastle Knights 24
Round 6 - Full Time :: April 18th, 2009 5:30pm
Venue: Kogarah Jubilee OvalReferee:
St George Illawarra Dragons (18)
Tries: Wendell Sailor (2), Jarrod Saffy
Goals: Jamie Soward (3/4)
Newcastle Knights (24)
Tries: Richard Fa\'aoso, Junior Sau, Isaac De Gois, Adam MacDougall
Goals: Kurt Gidley (4/4)
Welcome to WIN Jubilee Oval for tonights clash between the St George Illawarra Dragons and the Newcastle Knights.
Here are the confirmed team line-ups:
DRAGONS: 1. Darius Boyd 2. Brett Morris 3. Beau Scott 19 Jason Nightingale 5. Wendell Sailor 6. Jamie Soward 7. Ben Hornby (c) 8. Justin Poore 9. Dean Young 10. Jarrod Saffy 11. Matt Prior 12. Ben Creagh 13. Jeremy Smith
Interchange: 4. Chase Stanley 14. Dan Hunt 17. Luke Priddis 18. Ricky Thorby
KNIGHTS: 1. Kurt Gidley 2. James McManus 3. Junior Sau 4. Adam MacDougall 18 Keith Lulia 6. Ben Rogers 14. Jarrod Mullen 8. Mark Taufua 9. Isaac De Gois 10. Ben Cross 11. Chris Houston 12. Zeb Taia 13. Matt Hilder
Interchange: 15. Cory Paterson 16. Richard Fa'aoso 17. Danny Wicks 18. Marvin Karawana
KICKOFF - The Knights kick the ball very high to try and come up with possession but the Dragons manage to beat them to it.
1 min: A very early penalty gives the Dragons an easy ride upfield.
2 min: TRY St George Illawarra Dragons
Wendell Sailor claims a nice Jamie Soward chip kick, easily getting above Keith Lulia and dotting down in the corner. Soward adds the extras from the touchline, and Sailor claims an early advantage in his battle with Adam MacDougall.
St George Illawarra Dragons 6-0
4 min: The Knights come up with possession from the kickoff thanks to a fumble from big Wendell.
5 min: The first attacking chance for the Knights ends with a cross-field kick that's well claimed by James McManus, but he's well claimed by the Dragons defence at the same time.
8 min: The Knights try some razzle-dazzle passing on the last tackle that very nearly comes off before a loose pass is claimed by the Dragons.
11 min: PENALTY GOAL St George Illawarra Dragons
Jamie Soward extends the early lead with a penalty goal after the Knights are caught offside.
St George Illawarra Dragons 8-0
13 min: The Knights try another very high restart, but Darius Boyd catches the ball while Zeb Taia is penalised for tackling him in the air.
14 min: James McManus does well to claim an attacking kick from Jamie Soward ahead of three chasing Dragons before getting out of his own in-goal.
17 min: Kurt Gidley and Jarrod Mullen nearly get themselves into a nasty mix-up by both jumping to claim a midfield bomb, luckily Gidley comes up with the ball without a fumble.
18 min: A couple of kicks from Adam MacDougall then Chris Houston almost create a tryscoring chance for the Knights ... I'd like to know where their regular kickers are though?
21 min: Wendell Sailor drags Junior Sau into touch only 20 metres out from the Knights line - but the Knights are awarded a penalty for offside play.
23 min: TRY Newcastle Knights
Some pretty simple short passing between the Knights forwards finishes with Richard Fa'aoso crashing over the line for the try. Kurt Gidley converts.
St George Illawarra Dragons 8-6
27 min: A penalty gives the Knights an easy ride downfield and another attacking chance - it ends with them being tackled only inches away from the line on the last.
28 min: Brett Morris is penalised in possession for walking off the mark.
30 min: Gerard Sutton stops play to warn Kurt Gidley about the number of penalties being conceded by his side. The Dragons have had a hard time getting out of their own half unless a penalty is awarded.
34 min: A slick backline movement from the Dragons would have been a certain try but they Knights manage to knock the final pass to ground. The Dragons will have six more tackles, the Knights will be doing well if they can hold them out again ...
35 min: Ben Hornby and Ben Rogers chase a kick through, Ben Rogers wins the race and knocks the ball dead - so there's a third consecutive attacking set coming up for the home team.
36 min: Adam MacDougall and James McManus throw Jason Nightingale into touch.
38 min: TRY St George Illawarra Dragons
Some Jamie Soward brilliance here - first he regathers his own chip-kick over the Knights defence, then throws a no-look pass out wide to Wendell Sailor who crosses for his second try - and Wendell waves a couple of fingers out to Adam MacDougall to let him know what the score is. Soward converts.
St George Illawarra Dragons 14-6
HALFTIME: Dragons 14 Knights 6
The Knights will have a strong breeze at their backs for the second half, they'll be hoping their kicking game improves enough to take full advantage. Jamie Soward has been on fire so far - probably the difference between the two teams.
The second half is underway!
44 min: An error from Marvin Karawana will give the Dragons a scrum feed 40 metres out from the Knights tryline.
47 min: The Dragons keep directing their attacking plays towards Wendell Sailor - the last two plays have broken down but you wouldn't want to bet against Wendell getting at least one more try here tonight.
51 min: Wendell Sailor might not get a chance to add to his tally as he looks to be struggling with a hamstring strain, but he's still out there trying to run it out. This game has turned into a real arm-wrestle at the moment - neither team looks likely to score anytime soon.
54 min: Wendell's off, Chase Stanley goes on. The Knights get a penalty to give them a good attacking chance.
55 min: VIDEO REF - possible Knights try, Junior Sau has claimed a try out wide, they'll be checking the grounding ...
55 min: TRY Newcastle Knights
Junior Sau pushes away from a couple of pretty soft attempted tackles and gets over in the corner. Kurt Gidley nails the conversion from the chalk.
St George Illawarra Dragons 14-12
59 min: Another penalty to the Knights puts them back onto attack.
60 min: VIDEO REF - Isaac De Gois thinks he's slammed the ball down over the line after a dummy half run ...
60 min: TRY Newcastle Knights
Isaac De Gois darts from 10 metres out, beats a couple of slow defenders and scores right underneath the posts. Kurt Gidley converts, and the Knights take the lead.
Newcastle Knights 18-14
62 min: TRY Newcastle Knights
It's three in a row for the visitors - this time Adam MacDougall finishes off a nice backline break by Ben Rogers after the Knights had made plenty of metres in their first set following the restart. Kurt Gidley adds another two points with the conversion.
Newcastle Knights 24-14
65 min: The Dragons get their hands on the ball for the first time in nearly 10 minutes thanks to a fumble from Adam MacDougall.
66 min: Keith Lulia claims a Jamie Soward cross-field kick before being dragged back into his own in-goal.
67 min: TRY St George Illawarra Dragons
Fantastic play from Ben Hornby here - he ran across field looking for a runner before squeezing through the Knights defensive line and popping a great offload to Jarrod Saffy who bounced across the line to score. Jamie Soward misses the relatively easy conversion attempt.
Newcastle Knights 24-18
72 min: Danny Wicks starts a bit of push-and-shove with Jeremy Smith, Wicks is penalised and the Dragons will move into a good attacking position.
73 min: Dan Hunt tries a solo run from 15 metres out on the last tackle but he's easily claimed by the Knights defence.
74 min: A sharp offload from Jarrod Mullen nearly sparks the Knights backline into action but Junior Sau decides to hoof the ball ahead and it ends up well over the dead ball line.
77 min: Jamie Soward tries to dive on a sloppy play-the-ball from the Knights and looks to have come up with the ball but the referee awards possession to the Knights for some reason.
78 min: The Dragons are pushing hard here, a penalty now gives them a full set inside the Knights 20 metre zone.
79 min: Matt Hilder forces a fumble with a strong tackle, the Knights will have the scrum feed 10 metres out from their own line.
80 min: Jamie Soward tries to find touch from a 20-metre restart but the referee calls the play back because the Dragons weren't all onside.
FULLTIME: Newcastle Knights 24 St George Illawarra Dragons 18
A great comeback from the Knights here, overcoming a strong Dragons side and a hostile crowd to post their third victory on the trot.
LeagueUnlimited.com Player of the Match
3 Points: Ben Rogers
2 Points: Wendell Sailor
1 Point: Matt Hilder