Nightcliff storm home as Katherine let it slip
NIGHTCLIFF have recorded their first win of the season at Goodline Park yesterday, securing a miraculous game against Katherine, coming from 24-6 down to win 30-24.
The inclusion of former NRL star Joel Romelo at halfback gave the Dragons a massive boost before the match and Katherine knew they would have to come out of the blocks quickly. They were able to do so, starting the better of the two sides.
Tries to Tyler Aranui and Benny Adamson, as well as a double from Willy Fauid, gave the Tigers an 18-point lead at the break, while Nightcliff could only manage the one try from David Paull.
The Dragons started the second stanza in fine style, a 40/20 by Adrian Corrie put them down in Katherine’s end and Romelo was able to pounce, slicing through the Tigers defence to bring it back to a 12-point ball game.
Nightcliff were able to completethgeir sets and this led to Paull barging over for another try and with just over 20 minutes to go, the score was 24-18.
Katherine could not hold onto the ball, coughing up possession regularly and in doing so the Dragons capitalised.
Good field position led to a shift to the left hand edge, where they took advantage of an outnumbered Tigers’ defensive line, with Josh Hart scoring to level the game with only 10 minutes to go.
The Dragons then completed their comeback after a fieldgoal attempt from Corrie was charged down and they retained the ball, giving them six more tackles and from the subsequent set Lee Wallace crashed over to give the hosts their first victory for 2016.
Katherine captain coach Paul Jennings was disappointed with the way his side let the game slip away.
“We were definitely our worse enemy, that wasn’t the plan for sure.” he said.
Nightcliff’s Daniel Roach was stoked to finally get a win on the board. “It’s fantastic, we’ve had a lot of problems lately with injuries and that’s been killing us,” he said.