|
 A
thick fog rolled onto WIN Stadium as rain
lashed the hearty and brave St George Illawarra
Dragon supporters. They had little to celebrate
however as the Dragons side started and finished
in woeful fashion against a much more intelligent
Brisbane side, the Broncos winning the encounter
by 28 to 14.
Nothing
went right from the start for the Dragons
as they struggled to hold onto the ball, bumbling
possession away too easily.
The
Broncos' kicking game and rock solid defence
set them up for three tries in the first half
as a thick blanket of fog enveloped the pitch.
At half time, the Broncos led by 14 to 6.
In
the second half the Dragons continued to surrender
possession, trip over their own shoe laces
and generally looked a mess. The only consolation
for the red and whites was two late tries
to finish the game.
Saints
next play competition front-runners the Roosters
and may do so without Trent Barrett or Shaun
Timmins - with both coming off injured tonight
- potentially throwing them a fatal curve
ball before the finals.
WIN
Stadium
Referee: Sean Hampstead
Video Referee: Graeme West
Touch Judges: Pat Reynolds, Paul Kalina
Scorers:
DRAGONS 14
Tries: Timmins, Withers, Frew
Goals: Head 1/3
defeated by
BRONCOS 28
Tries: Frawley 2, McGuire, Webcke, Stag
Goals: Lockyer 4/7
By
the clock:
The
dust has settled, with the Origin series over
and done with both sides will have a hole
stack of stars back for this friday night
clash between the two NRL heavyweights.
Late changes: Andrew Frew & Michael Howell
have replaced John Carlaw & Mark Gasnier
for the Dragons side. Centre David Stag comes
in for the Broncos and Dane Carlaw comes out.
Earlier showers have left Win Stadium's surface
wet.
0
min: Dragons kickoff
3
min: Try - Broncos. Excellent start for the
Broncos! Darren Lockyer puts in a short kick
into the in-goal, Casey McGuire is in support
and gets the goods. Darren Lockyer's conversion
attempt goes wide. 4-0 Broncos
7
min: News - The Broncos are creating havoc
on the short side of the field, Darren Lockyer
knocks the ball on coming incredibly close
to scoring a well deserved try.
11
min: News - Sean Hampstead pings the Dragons
for a sheppard which would of set Ben Creagh
up for a try. Trent Barrett is down on the
ground suffering from a head knock.
16
min: Try - Dragons. Nice work by Mark Riddell
out of dummy half drawing in several Broncos
defenders before passing it to the try scorer
Shaun Timmins. Matthew Head converts. 6-4
Dragons
20
min: News - Both sides are being penalised
for infringing at the play the ball area.
A thick fog has also covered WIN stadium.
24
min: Try - Broncos. Shane Webcke bounces through
four Dragons players close the line to score.
Lockyer converts. 10-6 Broncos
27
min: News - The Dragons have made several
poor handling errors out of dummy half. This
could come back to haunt the Dragons side.
28
min: News - The Dragons hold Neville Costigan
up over the line after the Broncos opted to
the run the ball on the last tackle.
34
min: News - Trent Barrett's kick into the
in-goal just rolls over the chalk before Andrew
Frew could get a hand to it.
35
min: News - Ben Hornby makes up a mountain
of ground to knock the ball dead before Brisbane's
winger Stuart Kelly could score.
38
min: Try - Broncos. Karmichael Hunt running
out of dummy half puts in a grubber kick to
set up Craig Frawley for the try. Lockyer's
conversion attempt just misses. 14-4 Broncos
HALF
TIME:
The Broncos have got their tails up at the
break.
Ball handling has become difficult in conditions
like this but the Broncos have exposed the
pairing of Andrew Frew & David Howell
aiming alot of the attack at them.
Their kicking has been superior as has their
go-forward.
I'd be suprised if Trent Barrett stays on
the field as he quite clearly struggling with
an injury, the Dragons are still in the game
but they need some ball which they lacked
in the first half.
14-6 Brisbane Broncos are leading at the break.
HALF TIME stats:
Possession: 57% in favour to the Broncos
Penalties: 4-4
Errors: Dragons 5-3
Completions: Dragons 16/21; Broncos 15/18
Tackles: Dragons 165-121
Mistackles Dragons 16-10
40
min: Broncos kickoff, the second half is under
way
40
min: News - Trent Barrett has not come back
onto the field.
42
min: News - The Dragons just cant mount any
pressure as Ben Hornby knocks the ball on
from dumnmy half.
Rain is starting to fall.
44
min: News - The Broncos draw and pass, Craig
Frawley is tackled by Lincoln Withers before
sliding about 5 metres over the sideline in
a try saving situation.
48
min: Penalty Goal - Broncos. 20 metres out
in front following a penalty for lifting past
the horozontal.
16-6 Broncos
55
min: News - Along with the rain the errors
are pouring in. The Dragons still cant get
inside the Broncos 20 metre line and the Broncos
defence has been rock solid all game.
58
min: News - Stuart Kelly will not be back
on the field tonight.
60
min: Try - Broncos. Neville Costigan throws
a short pass to Craig Frawley to score a double.
The Dragons simply cant hold onto the ball
at all. Lockyer's kick is a shocker. 20-6
Broncos
64
min: Try - Broncos. Casey McGuire puts in
a kick, Brent Tate flicks the ball back to
David Stag before it went out to score a well
deserved try. Lockyer converts. 26-6 Broncos
67
min: News - Shaun Timmins comes off the field
with what looks a bout of concussion.
70
min: Try - Dragons. Tony Jensen makes a break,
he's tackled just before reaching the tryline.
The next play Lincoln Withers passes it to
Michael Howell, he places the ball back before
Lincoln Withers scored. Head's kick goes wide.
26-10 Broncos
73
min: Penalty Goal - Broncos. Following a two
on one strip.
18 metres out 10 metres out wide Darren Lockyer
slots it. 28-10 Broncos
76
min: News - Ben Hornby strips the ball from
Darren Lockyer as he was about to score.
79
min: Try - Dragons. The Dragons attack the
left side of the field, Andrew Frew runs onto
a ball at speed to end the match on a high
note. Head's kick goes wide.
FULL
TIME:
Amongst the fog, rain, hail, thunder and freak
tropical storms The Broncos played more intelligent
football than the Dragons and it showed, you
can not make that many errors inside your
own 20 metres in a match especially against
the Broncos.
FULL TIME stats:
Possession: 54% in favour to the Broncos
Penalties: 6-6
Errors: Dragons 19-11
Completions: Dragons 25/43; Broncos 31/42
Tackles: Dragons 302-205
Mistackles Dragons 27-25
Brisbane Broncos win 28-14
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Leagueunlimited.com players of the match:
3 - N Costigan (Broncos)
2 - S Webcke (Broncos)
1 - C McGuire (Broncos)
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