Match report:
JAMIE Soward and Mark Gasnier made the incisions and Matt Cooper and Ben Hornby delivered the knockout blows as St George Illawarra crushed Parramatta 30-0.
The Dragons' seventh NRL win in eight games moved them into top spot above Brisbane on for and against, while Parramatta slumped to their fifth loss.
Renowned for dour defence-dominated play, the Dragons proved at Kogarah they could be pretty as well as gritty, particularly in the first half.
Halfback Hornby and centre Cooper both scored two first half tries, as the Dragons bolted to a 22-0 lead at the break.
Five-eighth Soward gave representative selectors plenty to ponder, throwing the final pass for three of the Dragons' five tries, two of which came from his line breaks.
In the centres, Gasnier and Cooper terrorised the Eels, with the former giving teenager Jacob Loko a torrid time.
Parramatta started solidly enough in the first quarter, with forwards Fuifui Moimoi and Tim Mannah making metres with determined running.
The Eels invariably finished their sets with high kicks, which the Dragons defence had little problem defusing.
Soward got the Dragons rolling with a sixth minute penalty and busted the line 12 minutes later to set up Hornby's first try.
Cooper fended off Joel Reddy to score the home team's second try three minutes later.
Gasnier then stepped around Loko and combined with Soward to send the supporting Hornby over for his second try.
Their fourth and final first-half try came from a scrum deep in Eels territory, with Gasnier setting up Cooper for his second four-pointer.
The Dragons didn't entirely cast off their cloak of conservatism with Soward kicking for goal at 22-0 five minutes into the second half.
The game went into a lull before Soward galvanised the 19,319 crowd again with another break in the 58th minute that resulted in a try for Beau Scott, though Cooper might well have completed a hat trick had his five-eighth thrown the pass to the other side.
Tuesday, 3 May 2011
Monday, 2 May 2011
Round 8 - Sea Eagles VS Cowboys
Sea Eagles lose by two points to Cowboys :-(
The Manly Sea Eagles have lost their third game of the season to the North Queensland Cowboys 22-20.
Losing by just two points, the Sea Eagles did hold on until the dying minutes but were outdone by North Queensland. Both teams desperate to hold onto a winning streak, the Cowboys dominated in the first half before it evened up in the second and turned into a very tough battle.
Manly scored first when Will Hopoate threw a nice pass to Michael Robertson who went over in the corner. The conversion was whipped away from the posts as Manly took an early lead. But things suddenly slipped away as Matt Bowen raced away to score the first of his two tries for the evening.
Will Hopoate made a rare error, knocking on in goal and in turn giving it straight to Jonathan Thurston who scored. His conversion sailed over as they took the lead 10-4. Then a try to Aaron Payne right before half time gave them a lead of 16-4 as they ran into the half time.
A tough second half was ahead as both teams tried to hold onto a win. Matt Bowen took his second try and a conversion from Thurston took the lead to 22-4. The Cowboys didn’t score for the rest of the evening and began to falter as the Sea Eagles went in for the kill.
Tries to Hopoate and Michael Oldfield in a matter of minutes had every Sea Eagles fan holding their breath for a win. Tony Williams was put on towards the end of the match and was outstanding on the field. Assisting in the try to Hopoate, he also made a number of runs to put the Sea Eagles in with a chance.
The heartbreaking moment came, however, when Michael Oldfield was denied a try by the video referee after it was ruled that Jamie Lyon knocked on the ball. The momentum was decimated and the win seemed out of reach. Anthony Watmough and Jamie Lyon put the Sea Eagles within two points but with only a minute left on the clock, a miracle was not going to happen tonight.
The Sea Eagles went down to the Cowboys 22-20.
Manly are currently 5th on the competition ladder.
The Manly Sea Eagles have lost their third game of the season to the North Queensland Cowboys 22-20.
Losing by just two points, the Sea Eagles did hold on until the dying minutes but were outdone by North Queensland. Both teams desperate to hold onto a winning streak, the Cowboys dominated in the first half before it evened up in the second and turned into a very tough battle.
Manly scored first when Will Hopoate threw a nice pass to Michael Robertson who went over in the corner. The conversion was whipped away from the posts as Manly took an early lead. But things suddenly slipped away as Matt Bowen raced away to score the first of his two tries for the evening.
Will Hopoate made a rare error, knocking on in goal and in turn giving it straight to Jonathan Thurston who scored. His conversion sailed over as they took the lead 10-4. Then a try to Aaron Payne right before half time gave them a lead of 16-4 as they ran into the half time.
A tough second half was ahead as both teams tried to hold onto a win. Matt Bowen took his second try and a conversion from Thurston took the lead to 22-4. The Cowboys didn’t score for the rest of the evening and began to falter as the Sea Eagles went in for the kill.
Tries to Hopoate and Michael Oldfield in a matter of minutes had every Sea Eagles fan holding their breath for a win. Tony Williams was put on towards the end of the match and was outstanding on the field. Assisting in the try to Hopoate, he also made a number of runs to put the Sea Eagles in with a chance.
The heartbreaking moment came, however, when Michael Oldfield was denied a try by the video referee after it was ruled that Jamie Lyon knocked on the ball. The momentum was decimated and the win seemed out of reach. Anthony Watmough and Jamie Lyon put the Sea Eagles within two points but with only a minute left on the clock, a miracle was not going to happen tonight.
The Sea Eagles went down to the Cowboys 22-20.
Manly are currently 5th on the competition ladder.
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