tryscoring machine', Wayne Bartrim. :-) Tingha's hat trick takes his 2001 tally to 17 tries and he is without a doubt the form winger of the competition. With 9 minutes to go, Willie Peters secured the lead for the first time with a field goal but the Tigers looked to have won the game with a penalty goal 3 minutes from time. Incredibly, ex-Illawarra player, John Simon attempted a 40 m field goal which fell short and gave Saints possession with only 2 minutes remaining. Tingha saw the Dragons home to victory in what must be one of the season's most exciting finishes. Saints showed true grit in coming from behind but will be grateful for the 2 away points. The win sees Saints back into the top eight.

MATCH REPORT, BY THE CLOCK:
6 min: Try Withers. Follows a bad kick to Saints' short side by Hornby. Kaufusi picks up the ball near his line and runs into space. Tigers get a roll on and score. Conversion Caine. Tigers 6-0
10 min: Try Withers. Soft effort in defence, players hanging off the ball carrier who strolled over to score. Conversion Caine. Tigers 12-0
16 min: Penalty goal Caine. Tigers receive their 3rd paenalty from Ref Hampstead against Saints for pushing in the tackle. Saints have yet to get a penalty. So far, the Tigers have made only 15 tackles and are enjoying 85% of the possession. Tigers 14-0
20 min: First penalty to Saints. Tigers' John Simon complains and Ref Hampstead is heard to say, "You lost that one, you might get the next one, mate"
21 min: Saints have some possession and almost score but Peters' pass to lofty to McGregor who is eventually forced into touch. Tigers win scrum but Saints get ball back after forward pass ruling.
23 min: Try Blacklock. Saints keep ball alive Hornby draws defence and finds Blacklock in support who scores mid way between uprights and touch line. Conversion attempt from Riddell misses. Tigers 14-4
29 min: Try Kaufusi. Following at least 3 repeat sets of six, the Tigers finally breach the Dragons try line and go further ahead. Conversion from Caine misses. Tigers 18-4
32 min: Saints get their 2nd penalty of the match (head high) deep in their own half.
34 min: Saints get their 3rd penalty (holding down against Walker) and more possession.
36 min: Saints get another penalty (holding down against Walker) and the Tigers' Walker is sin binned for 10 minutes.
38 min: Try Ainscough. Conversion Riddell. Tigers 18-10

HALF TIME: Saints are 8 points behind but take heart from the fact that they only had 40% of the possession and were at one point, 14-0 down

44 min: Senter is penalised for pushing in the scrum (?)
47 min: Peters' bomb forces Tigers to line drop out
48 min: Saints get another set of six after attempted intercept goes to ground.
49 min: Try Blacklock. Interesting foul up by the electronic scoreboard when the ref asked for video ref assistance after Blacklock burrowed through defenders on the line and appeared to have touched down from one angle but not from the other. The ref was in perfect position however and when he was instructed in his ear piece that it was 'refs call', he awarded the try. Moments later, the scoreboard flashed up "NO TRY - 20 metre re-start" much to the glee of the local crowd. Unfortunately for them , it was a technical error. The main clue to this being the "20 metre re-start" instruction. If it was a no try, Blacklock would have been made to play the ball. The ref then has to deflect criticism from the Tigers players and the crowd. Conversion Riddell. Tigers 18-16
53 min: Penalty goal Caine. Saints offside. Tigers 20-16
57 min: Kaufusi knocks on in front of goal and Saints are on the attack. Saints get further possession from a penalty when Tigers are offside. saints take the tap.
60 min: Try Bartrim. Vide Ref called. Slightly controversial because Bartrim rolled over the line with a defender hanging off him. Despite the Leichhardt crowd protests, this was a fair try because the ball was still in forward motion and Bartrim's arms or the ball were not grounded by the tackler. Conversion attempt by Bartrim misses (an easy one for Barto, 10 metres in from touch) and the game is locked up. 20-all
70 min: Terry Hill high tackle on smaller Willie Peters. Saints are getting thumped about the head and the tactics from the Tigers are clear. Despite this, the Dragons are on top.
71 min: Field Goal Peters. Saints in front for the first time. Saints 21-20
76 min: Penalty Goal Caine. Saints were penalised following a raid by the Tigers. Treacy stole the ball in a 2 man tackle and conceded the penalty. Tigers get their nose back in front and  look like winners. Tigers 22-21
77 min: For some reason, John Simon attempts 40 metre field goal and it drops short. Jamie Ainscough picks it up and soon Saints are on their 30 metre line. In the backline movement which follows, Lance Thompson shoots a cut out pass across to find Nathan Blacklock on his wing. Tingha accelerates and the crowd is on it's feet. He races downfield before he is met by 2, make that 3 cover defenders at the Tigers' 30 metre line. Nathan then chips over their heads and is immediately winning the race for the ball. What happens next is a miraculous bounce which Blacklock plucks from the air and the competition's leading try scorer completes his 70 metre run to score the match winning try - without a hand ever being laid on him. This is truly one of the great Rugby League tries and one which elevates Nathan Blacklock into greatness within the Dragons' ranks. Sections of the crowd begin to chant 'Blacklock...Blacklock...' as it becomes apparent that we have witnessed a wonderful Rugby League moment and one which will be talked about for years to come. Conversion Riddell. Saints 27-22
FULL TIME

WAV (778 Kb) Click on the pic to hear Lance Thompson talking after the match

For full list of all the year's sound files - click here

Lee Hookey draws the defence and sets up his winger.	Jamie Ainscough takes full advantage of the service offered and scores Saints' 2nd try.
Tingha gets Saints' 1st try with defenders in tow.	Saints at half time and a telling statistic.
Tingha powers over from dummy half. The ball can be seen just over the line.	Another angle and Tingha burrows through. The try is awarded and Saints are back.
	Barto rolls over & is convincing enough for a try to be awarded.

Treacy, Hornby, Riddell and Leichhardt crowd. Things aren't looking good as Saints are behind with only a few minutes left

Tingha chips on his way to scoring the winning try.	'Room Service' bounce.

Want to see Tingha score the winning try? Click here to download the 50 second video 9. 1 Mb. ...well worth the wait! NB: If download is not successful, try 'right clicking' and click on 'save link as...' or 'save target as...' to your desktop or folder of choice. works well using windows media player as the browser plug in.