Dragons avoid upset loss

Jason Nightingale scored a hat-trick and brought up his try-scoring ton to save St George Illawarra from humiliation and continue a season of heartbreak for the Newcastle Knights.

On a jaw-dropping day at UOW Jubilee Oval, the Dragons scraped home 32-28.

Nightingale’s three tries denied the Knights an upset after the cellar dwellers stormed to a 28-10 half-time lead.

In a first-half performance that led to furious fans spraying the Dragons as they left the field, the Knights went on a blitz to score five tries in 20 minutes with Nathan Ross bagging a hat-trick.

But Newcastle’s hearts were broken again when Nightingale scored his third try to spark the second biggest comeback in the merged club’s history.

In a final 40 minutes that saw the Dragons fight and the Knights fold, Nightingale, Joel Thompson and Josh Dugan all scored to seal the win and snap St George Illawarra’s two-match losing streak.

Not even Knights coach Nathan Brown could have predicted such a remarkable match on a ground where he had seen so much. Returning to the ground that helped turn him into a rugby league star, Brown was hoping his Knights would enjoy some of the success he had at Kogarah as a player.

And the signs were good with the Knights going the length of the field to challenge the Dragons line on set No.1.