Dragons win ANZAC Day tussle

v BYE

St George Illawarra have withstood a valiant Sydney Roosters comeback to edge a memorable Anzac Day thriller 20-18 at Allianz Stadium.

It started with an almost-obligatory early penalty goal to Gareth Widdop before the Saints skipper chased through on his own bomb to put himself in range to capitalise when Roosters fullback Latrell Mitchell spilled the chance backwards, making it 8-0 after 20 minutes.

An uncharacteristic error from Shaun Kenny-Dowall and a high tackle penalty against Mitchell Frei handed the Dragons another chance and Widdop's pinpoint cross-field kick early in the set found Jason Nightingale outside his opposing man. 

The Dragons got the ball rolling with an 18-0 lead at half-time but could add only a penalty goal in the second half as the Roosters clawed back through one by one tries to have all 34,483 fans on the edge of their seats in a nail biting finish. The Roosters threw the ball around with little hope as they searched desperately for late points to claim an unlikely win after being completely outplayed in the opening 40.

Debutant playmaker Ryan Matterson - nephew of Brisbane great Terry - had a debut to remember, tossing an intercept pass in the first half for a Dragons try but setting up one try and scoring one of his own in a memorable fightback.

The Dragons' six offloads to three and 19 of 23 sets completed (against just 12 of 18) in the opening 40 helped them to 55 per cent of the first-half possession and they made it count.

It started with an almost-obligatory early penalty goal to Gareth Widdop before the Saints skipper chased through on his own bomb to put himself in range to capitalise when Roosters fullback Latrell Mitchell spilled the chance backwards, making it 8-0 after 20 minutes.

An uncharacteristic error from Shaun Kenny-Dowall and a high tackle penalty against Mitchell Frei handed the Dragons another chance and Widdop's pinpoint cross-field kick early in the set found Jason Nightingale outside his opposing man. 

The Dragons got the ball rolling with an 18-0 lead at half-time but could add only a penalty goal in the second half as the Roosters clawed back through several tries to have all 34,483 fans on the edge of their seats in a nail biting finish. The Roosters threw the ball around with little hope as they searched desperately for late points to claim an unlikely win after being completely outplayed in the opening 40.

The Tricolours desperately needed some better ball handling and a change of luck to start the second half; after the first half had deserted them. But they landed the second in spades. A loose carry from Mitchell off their first touch of the half handed the Dragons an attacking set but when he gambled on Widdop's grubber going dead and won - just - you started to wonder if it may be the Roosters' turn.

Shortly after, the on-field officials didn't spot a dummy half pass from Jake Friend that sailed at least a metre forward, the Roosters hookher was on hand a couple of plays later to complete a wonderful team try that included two right-arm flick passes from Kenny-Dowall and Matterson to get it back to 18-6.

Panic started to set in for the Roosters as the clock wound down with two scoring plays still required and it ended up being the least experienced man in the 17 who found the piece of magic that revitalised their hopes.

A quality high bomb from Matterson came down in front of the Dragons posts with Blake Ferguson, and Matterson was in place to receive the pass and charge over under the posts to cause the Dragons a late heart flutter.
But from there, through a final frantic six minutes, the Dragons were able to find the scramble in defence to protect their two point lead for a much needed win.

The referees deemed a late challenge from Roosters enforcer Dylan Napa to be too high and the ensuing penalty effectively closed out the contest despite a frantic final play from the Roosters that extended well after the full-time siren. That challenge left Napa one of three Roosters on report, joining Sam Moa (shoulder charge) and Eloni Vunakece (pressure on neck).

The Roosters remain at Allianz next weekend and welcome Newcastle on Saturday evening, while the Dragons have a Trans-Tasman trek ahead of the rep break where they'll visit the Warriors at Mt Smart on Sunday.