Nightingale double as Dragons down Titans
ST George Illawarra’s finals hopes remain alive after a dominant first-half performance helped the Dragons to a comprehensive 42-16 win over the Gold Coast Titans.
The Dragons skipped out to a 22-0 halftime lead before the Gold Coast launched a spirited second-half fightback. But the damage was done in the first 40 minutes as the Dragons’ left-side attack tore the Titans apart.
St George Illawarra were without halfback Josh McCrone with a groin injury, with Kurt Mann celebrating his return to the starting side in his place with the opening try.
The Dragons took the lead inside the first 10 minutes when Mann and Josh Dugan combined. A lovely cutout pass from Mann put Dugan through a gap, allowing the NSW centre to draw Blues teammate Jarryd Hayne before finding Mann with a return pass.
Dugan could have extended the lead five minutes later, only to be denied by William Zillman who appeared to strip the ball short of the goal-line, though the video referee bunker officials ruled Dugan lost the ball.
It wasn’t to cost the Dragons. St George Illawarra didn’t have to wait long for more points, with Jason Nightingale scoring his 14th try of the season midway through the half after a slick shift to the left highlighted by a long, spiral pass from young fullback Matt Dufty.
The Dragons went left again to extend their lead five minutes before the break. This time a short pass from Gareth Widdop saw Joel Thompson slice through and power his way over the line.
St George Illawarra had a fourth and Nightingale a second try before halftime to give the GETTY IMAGES Dragons a 22-0 lead at the break. They were good value for their lead, in truth it could have been more.
They didn’t look like they were going to slow down either. It took them less than 10 minutes of the second half to score again thanks to one of the team tries of the season. There were nine passes, they started down the left, shifted to the right, Tariq Sims ran over Nathaniel Peteru, they came back to the left for Cameron McInnes to eventually dive over.
But the Gold Coast gave themselves a flicker of hope, finally getting on the board through Dale Copley despite the pass from Anthony Don appearing forward. They narrowed the gap further shortly after and, if the McInnes’ try was one of the team tries of the season, Don’s must go close for individual skill.
The winger leapt high above Nightingale to catch an Ash Taylor cross-field kick. While Nightingale had hold of him, Don somehow managed to twist while in the air to plant the ball down one-handed.