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The
North Queensland Cowboys recent domination
over the St. George-Illawarra Dragons continued
tonight as the Cowboys ran riot to defeat
the joint venture club by 34-10.
The
Cowboys started out strong, with two unanswered
converted tries and a penalty goal taking
them out to a 14-point lead. The Dragons had
numerous opportunities to put themselves on
the scoreboard, but the Cowboys defence was
extremely strong, which has now become a familiar
trait of their 2004 season. To illustrate
just how strong the Cowboys defence was, in
the first half they only missed one solitary
tackle, which must be some sort of record.
The
Dragons were able to score just on the stroke
of half time to give the St. George-Illawarra
side some hope at 14-4, but things didn't
start out the way they had hoped in the second
half.
The
Cowboys scored twice within the first 12 minutes,
with Matthew Bowen heavily involved in both
of the tries.
The
Cowboys looked like they were running away
with the match until St. George-Illawarra
winger Nick Youngquest scored a length of
the field try against the run of play after
scooping on a loose ball after a bomb. That
try gave the Dragons a sniff with 20 minutes
to go, but they weren't able to capitalise.
The
North Queensland side scored two late tries,
the latter of which has to be up there with
the best tries of the year, as the movement
went about 70 metres and included a deft flick
pass from Matt Bowen to set up a flying Josh
Hannay who scored underneath the posts.
It
was an extremely entertaining contest, especially
from the Cowboys perspective. Their forwards
were outstanding, and easily outmuscled their
bigger and more fancied counterparts. Paul
Rauhihi led from the front as usual, emassing
220 metres from 20 hit-ups. Luke O'Donnell
was another standout as he continues to impress
with his new club in 2004.
Nathan
Fien led the side around spectacularly with
a clever kicking game which enabled the Cowboys
to get the better field position for most
of the match. The recent trend of starting
Matt Bowen off the bench seems to be working
wonders for Graham Murray, as when he comes
on around the 20 minute mark he completely
sparks the North Queensland side, and tonight
he was extremely dangerous as usual, setting
up a few tries and scoring 2 himself.
For
the Dragons, they were simply out-enthused.
They are missing some big names through injury,
but realistically they should've put a better
performance in than they did. Nick Youngquest
played well in his Dragons debut, while Jason
Ryles and Lincoln Withers were the other picks
of the Dragons players.
The
Cowboys have every right to be confident as
they head into the finals if they continue
this sort of form, and they could very well
upset a few teams if they're not taken as
a serious threat.
Dairy
Farmers Stadium
Referee: Tim Mander
Video Referee: Graeme West
Touch Judges: Russell Turner, Gavin Badger
Scorers:
COWBOYS 34
Tries: Bowen 2, Williams 2, Bowman, Hannay
Goals: Hannay 5/8
DRAGONS 10
Tries: Creagh, Youngquest
Goals: Head 0/1, Riddell 1/1
By
the clock:
PRE-MATCH:
A vital game for both sides, with the Cowboys
trying to secure a top 8 position and the
Dragons trying to move up the competition
ladder to perhaps get a chance at a home semi
final. A fairly big crowd is on hand in Townsville
to see the Cowboys play, who will have Matt
Bowen starting from the bench once more. Dragons
winger Nathan Blacklock is out due to injury,
with Nick Youngquest his replacement.
0
min: NEWS - The Dragons have kicked off as
the match is underway!
5
min: NO TRY - Cowboys. After some good field
position from the Cowboys, Travis Norton put
up a great bomb as Rod Jensen lept up high
and collected the ball to score what looked
like a try, but Jensen knocked back the ball
and it hit a player in an offside position,
leading to a penalty to the Dragons.
10
min: NEWS - The Saints had 3 back-to-back
sets of six near the North Queensland line
but the Cowboys goal line defence was outstanding
and managed to keep them scoreless.
12
min: TRY - Cowboys. The North Queensland side
went the length of the field, as after some
good lead up work from Norton and Fien, Ty
Williams ran 30 metres - and through several
defenders - to score a great try. Hannay converts.
Cowboys 6-0.
14
min: NEWS - Ben Creagh was felled in a high
tackle by Josh Hannay which was put on report.
Penalty to the Dragons.
20
min: PENALTY GOAL - Cowboys. After repeated
offside penalties by the Dragons, Hannay slotted
an easy 2 points.
Cowboys 8-0.
25
min: NEWS - Aaron Wheatley was penalised for
a trip on Matthew Bowen. Josh Hannay elected
to try for another penalty goal from 40m out,
but it was waved away.
Cowboys still 8-0.
28
min: NEWS - The Dragons are playing boring,
predictable football and are too one-dimensional.
They've hardly troubled the Cowboys defence
at this stage of the match which has been
excellent.
33
min: TRY - Cowboys. After some repeated pressure
on the Dragons line, Matthew Bowen threw a
great dummy to run under the posts to score
a great individual try. Hannay converts the
try.
Cowboys 14-0.
39
min: TRY - Dragons. The Cowboys eventually
cracked after a long ball from Head to Creagh
who scored under the sticks. Head missed a
sitter of a kick from right in front.
Cowboys 14-4.
40
min: HALF TIME.
The
Cowboys lead 14-4.
The
Dragons have had the better completion rate
but they hardly troubled the Cowboys apart
from just before the half time siren. The
Cowboys defence has been outstanding and their
pack has been overpowering its higher touted
counterparts. The Cowboys have only missed
1 tackle, which is an amazing statistic.
Penalties:
Cowboys 4-1
Completions: Cowboys 14/19; Dragons 16/19
Line Breaks: Cowboys 2-1
Mistackles: Dragons 14-1
Offloads: Cowboys 11-5
Errors: Cowboys 8-3
41
min: NEWS - The Cowboys have kicked off and
we're underway in the second half!
44
min: TRY - Cowboys. An awesome backline movement
from the Cowboys with decoys, run-arounds
and cut out passes which resulted in Paul
Bowman receiving the ball close to his line
and stepping through a defender to score close
to the posts. Hannay converts the try.
Cowboys 20-4.
49
min: NEWS - The Cowboys have trapped the Dragons
in the in-goal area after a great long kick
from Nathan Fien and an enthusiastic chase
from the home side.
52
min: TRY - Cowboys. Matthew Bowen scored a
replica of his first try as he sold the defence
a dummy and strolled over to score near the
posts. The Cowboys are on fire. Hannay misses
another relatively easy kick.
Cowboys 24-4.
56
min: NEWS - Nick Youngquest flew down the
right hand wing for the Dragons but some last
ditch defence from the Cowboys saved a try
as he was bundled into touch.
60
min: TRY - Dragons. After a bomb was put up
by Nathan Fien, the ball spilled loose and
Nick Youngquest scooped it up to race 80m
to score a try against the run of play. Riddell
converts the try.
Cowboys 24-10.
65
min: NEWS - The Cowboys are enjoying the better
possession rate, as they've had 54% of the
ball so far.
68
min: NEWS - Trent Barrett blew an almost certain
try when he ran the ball on the last when
he had an overlap on his right hand side,
and because of that he turned possession over
to the Cowboys.
72
min: NEWS - Travis Norton has come from the
field with what looks to be a serious ankle
injury.
73
min: TRY - Cowboys. After a nice bomb from
the Cowboys, Ty Williams pounced on the loose
ball to score what should be the match-winner.
Hannay misses the conversion.
Cowboys 28-10.
77
min: TRY - Cowboys. Amazing team try from
the Cowboys which went about 65 metres! Bowen
set it up with a deft flick pass to Hannay
who dove underneath the posts to score. He
converts his own try to rub salt into the
wounds.
Cowboys 34-10.
80
min: FULL TIME.
The
Cowboys win 34-10.
The
Cowboys win in an entertaining affair in a
match which they were always in control of.
The North Queensland side out-enthused their
counterparts and played some outstanding football
in the process. The Cowboys are headed to
the finals if they continue to play at this
standard.
Penalties:
Cowboys 5-4
Completions: Cowboys 31/40; Dragons 26/37
Possession: Cowboys 54% Dragons 46%
Line Breaks: Cowboys 5-2
Mistackles: Dragons 31-9
Offloads: Cowboys 18-11
Errors: Cowboys 13-11
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Leagueunlimited.com players of the match:
3 - Nathan Fien (Cowboys)
2 - Matthew Bowen (Cowboys)
1 - Paul Rauhihi (Cowboys)
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