Wests Tigers 6
Sydney Roosters returned to winning ways in confident fashion today with a hard-fought 24-6 NRL victory over an under-strength Wests Tigers at the Sydney Football Stadium.
Last year's beaten grand finalists, who went into the game on the back of two successive defeats, finished with 12-men after Anthony Minichiello was sin-binned with nine minutes remaining, but showed great resilience to hold off a late rally from the visitors.
The Tigers welcomed back second-rower Bryce Gibbs for the first time since round 23 last year, and coach Tim Sheens opted to start Tim Moltzen at halfback with rookie playmaker Jacob Miller dropped to the bench.
Moltzen, who had never tasted defeat playing in the role, almost got his side off to the perfect start in the second minute, latching onto a Benji Marshall offload, following a Wade McKinnon run, but was held up on the line brilliantly by Mitch Aubusson and Joseph Leilua.
The Roosters broke the deadlock through Shaun Kenny-Dowall in the sixth minute, with the Kiwi centre somehow forcing an arm out from underneath a pack of Tigers' defenders to score.
Giant prop, Martin Kennedy, who enjoyed a tremendous game, then bulldozed his way over for the first try of his career as the Roosters dominated the first half.
Braith Anasta's penalty just before the interval stretched his side's lead to 12-0 after Tom Symonds, in for the injured Frank-Paul Nuuausala, was denied a try by the video referee for a knock-on.
The Tigers started the second half well and cut the deficit through giant rookie front-rower Aaron Woods who charged his way to the line, but the Tigers were unable to add to their score due to a combination of poor handling and some committed Roosters defending.
The crowd were out of their seats in the 49th minute when Todd Carney, looking back to his Dally M Medal-winning form, raced downfield and sent referee Tony Archer crashing to the turf, but it wasn't long before the hosts were in again through Minichiello.
Kennedy embarked on another run, and Leilua did superbly to hand off to the 2005 Golden Boot winner, who dived over for his 103rd try for the club.
Young Queenslander Kennedy then denied Alan Schirnack a try underneath his own posts as the Tigers went desperately in search of points, with Benji Marshall becoming more and more involved in the game.
Despite being down a man after Minichiello was marched by Archer for not letting Robbie Farah play the ball, the Roosters repelled the visitors and then added some gloss to the scoreline when Carney raced home for a try in the final minute, with Anasta adding the extras.
- AAP
