FULLTIME SCORE: Saints 36  - Auckland 8 
Match Conditions: Hot, fine.
Attendance: 11,139
MATCH SUMMARY:
DRAGONS FIND SOME FORM AT LAST!

The match started with Saints looking a little nervous and there were some worrying signs as they were dropping off tackles and found themselves on the receiving end of rash of penalties.
After 20 minutes Auckland had jogged away to an 8 - nil scoreline.
But then came the mighty Tingha! Nathan Blacklock received a Jamie Ainscough pass (who is definitely playing in the centres with Matt Cooper on the other wing) and Blacklock scored out wide in the 25th minute. The conversion attempt was missed by Bartrim (apparently he is closing in on 400 career goals, was 393 before today).
Then Barto came to town to score in the 28th minute sighting an opening 10 metres out and going for it! The try is converted by Ainscough as Bartrim went off.
The most exciting moment of the first half came in the 5 minutes before the break when Blacklock intercepted and ran 75 minutes to score under the uprights. Barto converts and the half time score is Saints 16 - Auckland 8

It took just 10 minutes of the 2nd half for Saints to gain the momentum. Andrew Hart showed up the Auckland defence running from dummy half 25m out from the tryline. Auckland just opened up and Hart scored the easiest of tries. This try was converted by Thompson, the 3rd Saints kicker of the day.
In the 65th minute, Barrett runs at the Auckland line from 25m out and passes to Brown. the ball is deflected down by an Auckland player but Brown gets the perfect bounce to score under the posts. Thompson converts and the score blows out to 28-8.
5 minutes later,  its Cooper's turn. Barrett chips high in the mid field. Mundine follows and catches the ball on the full. He passes wide to supports,  Hooper and Cooper. This is a great try as Cooper receives the final pass and touches down in the corner. Hooper (!) attempts the conversion but misses by a country mile. Score: Saints 32 - Auckland 8.
A few minutes later Saints are in again. Its Mundine again finding the gap as you would expect in a match which was dominated by our forwards. From 30m out from the Saints line, Mundine bursts through and runs 50m before throwing a speculator towards the Hooper and Cooper show. This time it's Cooper that gets the ball before flicking an arrogant pass out the back to Hooper who strolls over to score.  Saints 36 - Auckland 8 (full time score).

We didn't see the final conversion attempt but the commentary said that Timmins made the attempt, which missed. If that's the case, Saints used 5 different goal kickers today. That's good. The coach is obviously addressing this lack of goal kickers problem.
It was great listening to the Kiwi commentators during the afternoon. They were pretty good and not nearly as one eyed as I thought they'd be. The crowd were in a state of shock for most of the match and perhaps that had something to do with it. The loudest thing I could hear were the small contingent of Dragons supporters, some who obviously made the trip but there were others who are definitely locals. The only only other crowd noises I could hear were the shuffling of feet towards the exits as a few thousand Auckland supporters made their way to the car park about mid way through the 2nd half.
It was good to see the forwards doing what they do best. Andrew Hart and Luke Bailey were  way up there. Lance Thompson was bloody marvellous. This made it easy for the backs and Matt Cooper is starting to look like star material.
But the pick of the match must go to Craig Smith who was awesome - he topped the Tackle Count AND the Hit-up Count. Doing more work than any other player on the field. 
Next week is a tough assignment. Vs Newcastle in Newcastle. The Auckland match was a long way from perfect for Saints but it was great turning point and things can only get better from here on in!