In a Nutshell
It was another desperately tight NRL encounter at Remondis Stadium, but the St George Illawarra Dragons managed to hold on to win by two points and retain their unbeatenn record after three rounds of the Premiership.
How it Unfolded
The Dragons scored an early try from Brett Morris, created by a brilliant cut-out ball from Gareth Widdop to Dylan Farrell. Widdop’s conversion attempt hit the upright.
The Sharks then grabbed the lead with a try by John Morris, taking advantage of some weak Dragons’ defence, with Michael Gordon converting to give the home side the lead.
Brett Morris then had a second try disallowed for the Dragons, before Jason Nightingale leapt high to collect a Sam Williams chip to touch down, although Widdop again hit the upright with his conversion attempt.
Just before the interval the Dragons extended their lead to eight points when Brett Morris caught a Widdop kick over the head of Sharks defender Jonathan Wright and somehow managed to get the ball down, with Widdop at last adding the goal.
The second half was scoreless until the 68th minute, when Gordon fed John Morris near to the line. Morris burst through the defence to put the ball down, but the referee referred it to the video referee while calling no try. The video referee disagreed, however, awarding the try with Gordon adding the goal for a two-point margin.
The Sharks tried hard in the final ten minutes, but were unable to get back on terms.
Reports from all the weekend’s NRL games will feature in Monday’s edition of Rugby League Express.
