Report from: Steven Williams
15/02/03

The St George Illawarra Dragons have convincingly defeated the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Aussie Stadium tonight to regain the Charity Shield.

Saints scored five tries to two to defeat Souths 28-10 with Amos Roberts scoring a double.

New Dragons' halfback, Brett Firman scored a try and controlled much of the first half but limped off shortly after halftime.

Dragons 28
Tries: Roberts 2, Firman, Young, Stapleton. Goals: Riddell 3/4, Roberts 1/1
defeated
Rabbitohs 10
Tries: Bajouri, McKinnon. Goals: Smith 1/1, McKinnon 0/1

Half time: Dragons 16-6
Referee: Sean Hampstead. Penalties: 7-all.
Crowd: 20,834

MATCH PICS - CLICK HERE
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BY THE CLOCK:
4 min: NO TRY - Brett Firman (Dragons) unable to ground the ball cleanly and video ref rules no try. nil-all

17 min: TRY - Dragons. Sensational work from Amos Roberts who chips ahead within inches of the sideline following a Firman kick. Roberts shows great hands and scores in the right side corner. Conversion Mark Riddell unsuccessful. Dragons 4-0

23 min: TRY - Dragons. Souths lose possession. Dragons halfback, Firman picks up loose ball to run 50m and scores under posts. Conversion Riddell. Dragons 10-0

27 min: TRY - Rabbitohs. Ahmad Bajouri scores 10m in from right side touch after securing a chip kick from Luke Branighan. Follows a great run down left flank from speedster Nathan Merritt. Conversion Justin Smith a ripper. Dragons 10-6

33 min: TRY - Dragons. Dean Young comes onto the field and barges over under the posts. Conversion Riddell. Dragons 16-6

HALF TIME: Dragons showing a superior kicking game and having the better of field position. The Dragons enjoying 58% possesssion.

44 min: NEWS - Dragons halfback Brett Firman limps from the field with Keiran Kerr coming on as replacement.

53 min: NEWS - Tempers fray into a traditional Charity Shield dust up. Souths get back to back penalties but unable to crack the defence. In the following set, Kerr kicks a 40/20 to put Saints on the attack.

57 min: TRY - Dragons. Roberts plants the ball down just inside the dead ball line following a Damien Bower grubber kick. Roberts converts his own try from almost in front. Dragons 22-6

72 min: TRY - Dragons. Craig Stapleton scores a well deserved try against some tiring defence after running onto a pass from Andrew Head close to the line. Conversion Riddell next to the uprights is successful. Dragons 28-6

75 min: NEWS - A frustrated Justin Smith (Souths) is sin-binned for dissent after throwing the ball.

77 min: TRY - Souths. A consolation try to Wade McKinnon as Souths run 70m to score out wide. Conversion McKinnon unsuccessful Dragons 28-10

FULL TIME: A solid win to Saints who did so without Jason Ryles, Trent Barrett or Shaun Timmins and were without Firman for the second half. Top defensive effort.
Souths showed plenty of promise and although unable match it tonight should look forward to a better 2003.
The Dragons notch up their 12th win in the 20th Charity Shield.
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