Desperate Dragons put Knights to the sword
ST GEORGE Illawarra survived to score a win for their final game but not without a scare and a warning of more improvement needed if they’re to make it past the first week of finals.
After appearing to have put the game away with a resurgence in the second half in Newcastle, the Dragons instead spent the final 10 minutes doing everything to hold off a fast-finishing Knights.
It was a desperate and frantic final period as the Dragons held a skinny 18-14 lead, a try to winger Jordan Pereira with less than two minutes on the clock finally sealing victory and a 22-14 scoreline.
The win gives a small amount of confidence after a demoralising 38-0 loss to the Bulldogs last round.
A loss could have meant they finished the regular season in eighth spot. Instead they await the result of Broncos v Sea Eagles. A Brisbane win by 22 or more would move it into sixth and push the Dragons to seventh.
There was a sense of desperation to the Dragons as they trailed but it didn’t shift to panic as they slowly worked their way back in after being behind 10-2 at halftime.
The Dragons broke through in the 47th minute. A repeat set 10 out and Jeremy Latimore took three Knights over the line under the posts.
Ten minutes later Tim Lafai offloaded to Cameron McInnes who busted the Knights’ line from his own half. He sent away Nene MacDonald who went 60 metres to touch down in the right corner.
Ten minutes later Ben Hunt swooped on a Knights dropped ball and popped it to Zac Lomax who found Matt Dufty on his inside who raced away to the right corner to score.
That put them at 18-10 and looking comfortable as the clock wound down. NEWCASTLE Tries: Goals: ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA Tries: Goals: