Dragons 12
Warriors 11
The New Zealand Warriors' drought in Wollongong continued as the in-form St George-Illawarra pipped them 12-11 in a National Rugby League thriller today.
It was the Warriors' third nailbiter in as many weeks, and with their final throw of the dice, halfback Stacey Jones fumbled when setting for a field goal which would have sent it to golden point extra time with 1min 40sec left.
Both sides scored two tries, with the result leaving the Warriors winless at WIN Stadium since 1996 and left them outside the NRL top-eight with their fourth loss from eight matches.
The visitors defended stoutly and led for much of the second half, but made too many handling errors before Dragons second rower Ben Creagh charged over in the 71st minute to give his side a one-point lead.
It continued the Dragons' resurgence under new coach Wayne Bennett, their sixth win from eight matches to stamp their title credentials.
Warriors coach Ivan Cleary reshuffled his side with four late changes, including Nathan Fien into five-eighth, Joel Moon to centre and Simon Mannering into the second row.
The Warriors led 7-2 after a disjointed first half dominated by 11 penalties from referees Ben Cummins and Jason Robinson.
After an early period of Dragons attack and some worrying missed tackles, the Warriors got going thanks to five consecutive penalties.
The last was goaled by Patrick Ah Van after a concerted raid which included a disallowed try to Manu Vatuvei for a Jerome Ropati forward pass.
Dragons five-eighth Jamie Soward levelled 2-2 after a high Wade McKinnon tackle which forced a groggy Matt Cooper from the field.
Then a trademark inspired play from Warriors captain Steve Price -- who confirmed on match day he'd re-signed for a 17th NRL season in 2010 -- led to the Warriors' first try in the 30th minute.
A Soward kick 15m out was charged down by a diving Price, and Simon Mannering raced 70m before he was dragged down by Dragons flyer Brett Morris.
From the next play the Warriors spun it wide and Ah Van dived over in the right corner.
Jones ended another Warriors raid with a field goal to give them a five-point halftime lead.
The Warriors' defence continued to hold firm but simple handling errors stopped them kicking clear of the the hosts, including a Vatuvei fumble after a devastating 50m run.
Inevitably the Dragons stormed back and after returned fullback Wade McKinnon just saved the Warriors when he slapped a kick dead, a penalty gave the hosts another set and winger Brett Morris jinked over from a Soward pass.
The little five-eighth's goal made it 8-7, but not for long.
Three minutes later the Warriors raced back and attacked down the left for a determined Ropati to carry four Dragons defenders over the line to score from a video referee's call.
The Warriors were just clinging on when NRL debutant Lewis Brown was penalised for a high shot on Ben Hornby, but Morris' subsequent try was called back for a forward pass.
But they weren't so lucky from the Dragons' next set when Creagh carried three Warriors defenders over the line, nine minutes before fulltime.
- NZPA
