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George Illawarra have made it two from two
against local rivals Cronulla in 2004, defeating
the Sharks 26-14 at Oki Jubilee Stadium today.
It
was a game of two halves, the first a rugged
encounter, the second a litany of mistakes
early before a late flurry of tries saw the
home side continue their quest towards the
semi finals.
“We
finally put it out of its misery,” Dragons
assistant coach Kurt Wrigley said of the contest.
“It
was bizarre, more like a game of tennis.
“One
of the boys actually said if the game was
a shiela you wouldn’t ask her out.”
But
winning ugly is still winning and the Dragons
head to Townsville next week to play the Cowboys
with the chance to get closer to an improbable
top four berth.
“Everyone
was frustrated and everyone was trying to
win the game instead of doing their own individual
job,” Dragons fullback Ben Hornby said.
“We
have to look ahead now. In the past we may
have lost that game but it was a good chance
to prove we can win the tight ones.
“We
want to get a roll on so we’ll go up
to Townsville confident we’re going to
win.”
The
home side were the first on the board when
halfback Mathew Head provided Reece Simmonds
with a brilliant cutout pass in the ninth
minute and the winger scurried into the corner
to set up an early 4-0 lead.
Just
10 minutes later skipper Trent Barrett exploited
some tired Sharks defence to dive over under
the posts and extend the lead to 10-0.
Barrett
pushed past props Danny Nutley and Chris Beattie
on his way over the stripe.
The
Sharks hit back through Matthew Rieck after
video referee Steve Clark awarded the winger
the benefit of the doubt.
Rieck
dived into the left corner under attention
with his left leg and elbow seemingly very
close to the touchline but Clark was unable
to conclusively rule that way and a try resulted.
Not
long after Nigel Vagana crossed from a quick
David Simmons pass leaving the score at the
break 10-8.
Just
five minutes into the second stanza hooker
Lincoln Withers dived over from dummy half.
The
clever rake lost possession in his fight to
touch down but regathered in time to register
the four points.
Error
after error then crept into the game before
Sharks three quarter Ryan McGoldrick crossed
to bring the deficit to just two at 16-14.
But
it seemed to be the wake up call the red and
whites needed as they pushed ahead with two
tries in as many minutes.
Mark
Riddell scored a trademark try when he burrowed
over Nutley from dummy half before Simmonds
sealed the match.
Simmonds
second try came from a super Ashton Sims offload
which put Matt Cooper into space and the NSW
centre made no mistake in passing inside for
Simmonds.
With
clashes against other top eight sides the
Cowboys and Melbourne Storm over the next
fortnight the Dragons will see how they rate
coming into the finals.
ST
GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS 26 (R Simmonds 2,
T Barrett, L Withers, M Riddell tries; M Head
3 goals) d. CRONULLA SHARKS 14 (M Rieck, N
Vagana, R McGoldrick tries; M Hilder goal)
at Oki Jubilee Stadium Crowd: 16,436
Leagueunlimited
Live Report:
DRAGONS
26
Tries: Simmonds 2, Barrett, Withers, Riddell
Goals: Head 3/5, Riddell 0/1
defeated
SHARKS 14
Tries: Rieck, Vagana, McGoldrick
Goals: Hilder 1/3
Oki
Kogarah Jubilee
Referee: Sean Hampstead
Video Referee: Stephen Clark
Touch Judges: Russell Turner, Steve Chiddy
By
the clock:
0
min: Grey day in Sydney. Clouds looming for
the local derby with swirling North Westerly
winds. Crowd: 16,436. Good atmosphere in the
ground. KICK OFF
9
min: TRY - Dragons
With weight of possession in the Dragons favour
so far, Reece Simmonds scores. Conversion
unsuccessful. Dragons 4-0
19
min: TRY - Dragons
Riddell and Ryles carrying the ball forwards.
The Sharks doing a lot of tackling. Pressure
pays off when Trent Barrett scores. Matthew
Head's conversion successful. Dragons 10-0
31
min: TRY - Sharks
With the Sharks managing to hang on to the
ball and complete their sets, the Dragons
are under pressure. Matthew Rieck breaks the
line and goes over to score. Conversion unsuccessful.
Dragons 10-4
37
min: Try - Sharks
Sharks now with most of the ball. Vagana storms
over the line. No conversion. Dragons 10-8
40
min: Penalty goal attempt from Mathew Head
(Dragons) is unsuccessful.
HALF
TIME
45
mins: Try - Dragons
Dragons come storming back after the break
with a try to Lincoln Withers. Dragons 14-8
46
min: Head puts it through the posts. Conversion
successful. Dragons 16-8
69
min: TRY - Sharks
After trading tackles for twenty minutes Ryan
McGoldrick strikes back for the Sharks. Matt
Hilder successful with the kick. Dragons 16-14
73
min: Try - Dragons
Mark Riddell hits back for the Dragons.
Riddell's conversion unsuccessful.
Dragons 20-14
75
min: Try - Dragons
Reece Simmonds adds to the Sharks misery,
scoring again before they can even get a touch
of the ball. Head's conversion successful.
26-14
WRAP
UP
A
pretty ordinary game from both teams, the
St George-Illawara Dragons helped immensely
by Cronulla's mistakes and inability to complete
their sets of six. Trent Barrett too good
for them. The Sharks season just gets worse.
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Leagueunlimited.com players of the match:
3 - A Sims (Dragons)
2 - T Barrett (Dragons)
1 - R Simmonds (Dragons)
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