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NEWCASTLE - There was no Andrew Johns in sight but a different Newcastle superstar helped sink the New Zealand Warriors in a National Rugby League (NRL) thriller here tonight.
Brilliant fullback Kurt Gidley bamboozled the Warriors' defence with two tries in a desperate final 15 minutes to spur the Knights to a 24-18 victory before 15,107 fans at EnergyAustralia Stadium.
Then with the scores level two minutes from fulltime, centre Adam MacDougall crossed out wide after Todd Byrne spilled the ball deep in Warriors territory to sink the downcast New Zealanders, who had looked to have the match in safe keeping.
Chasing back-to-back wins on the road, the Warriors led 18-6 after 52 minutes but couldn't withstand a late onslaught of three converted tries in 11 minutes.
Gidley fended off recalled Warriors Patrick Ah Van and Lance Hohaia to spark the comeback then with four minutes left he spun and weaved to score again and add the conversion to make it 18-18.
It meant consecutive losses for the previously fourth-placed Warriors, who now move back to the pack.
They were without three suspended key men -- fullback Wade McKinnon, five-eighth Michael Witt and centre and goalkicker Tony Martin -- but it didn't seem to trouble them early on.
The Warriors quickly shook off their patchy home loss to Cronulla last weekend and shot out to a 12-0 lead after a clinical opening quarter with two tries in seven minutes.
Clever switches of play from hooker Nathan Fien and halfback Grant Rovelli, a blindside attack and a smart kicking game to isolate Gidley set a solid platform.
Consecutive penalties from referee Tony Archer, one for a Josh Perry high tackle on veteran Ruben Wiki, led to the opening try when Rovelli ran the blind and linked with Wiki, who stormed through a gap, brushed off Perry and crashed over for his first touchdown of 2007.
Jerome Ropati, in just his second game of the season, then played opportunist to double the Warriors' lead with Newcastle hot on attack.
With a move soccer megastar Wayne Rooney would have been proud of, Ropati stuck out his right foot to charge a Riley Brown kick, regathered on the full and dashed 85m to score.
The powerful Knights got on a roll and threatened at the other end but tried too much on the fifth tackle and the Warriors' defence scrambled well.
But they couldn't hold the hosts 10 minutes before the break when Brown darted through, drew two defenders and sent test prop Steve Simpson away with a neat in-pass.
A controversial Fien try in the 52nd minute speared the Warriors out to 18-6, after they ripped into the second half with seven consecutive sets at the desperate Knights.
Fien grubbered and climbed all over Knights prop Clint Newton as both touched down simultaneously.
After several replays, television referee Graeme West awarded the try with the attacking team given the benefit of the doubt.
The Knights stormed back again but it seemed the luck was with the Warriors.
Simpson looked bound for his second try but Ah Van, in perfect position nearly all night, raced across and slapped the ball from his grasp over the line.
But Gidley had other ideas, as the imposing Newcastle crowd roared them home.
- NZPA
