Nene MacDonald scored a try of the season contender to inspire St George Illawarra Dragons to a 20-16 comeback victory over Cronulla Sharks, having been 14-0 down.
After Chad Townsend had given the Sharks a two-point lead through the boot, the halfback provided the opening try with a short ball for a rampaging Jayson Bukuya.
Townsend’s halfback partner, Matt Moylan, then found Sosaia Feki with a cut-out pass to stretch Cronulla’s lead out to 14 with the help of Townsend from the tee once again.
But it was MacDonald and St George who were to steal the show when the winger took a Widdop chip over the top and somehow grounded the ball before being bundled into touch to get the Dragons back in the game before halftime.
The Dragons hit the front after the break when Ben Hunt miss-kicked for Tyson Frizell to stroll over under the posts and Widdop found Euan Aitken who stretched out to score. Widdop’s two kicks from three gave St George a two-point lead.
Off the back of a Feki intercept, Jason Nightingale held down Josh Dugan to earn a ten-minute break on the sideline and bring Cronulla back level through Townsend once again. But it was St George who were in front by four when Nightingale returned through two Widdop penalties.
Sharks: Dugan, Feki, Gray, Leutele, Holmes, Moylan, Townsend, Fifita, Brailey, Prior, Bukuya, Graham, Gallen; Interchanges: Capewell, Segeyaro, Seumanufagai, Paulo.
Tries: Bukuya, Feki; Goals: Townsend 4
Dragons: Dufty, MacDonald, Aitken, Lafai, Nightingale, Widdop, Hunt, Graham, McInnes, Vaughan, Frizell, Sims, de Belin; Interchanges: Leilua, Mann, Ah Mau, Latimore.
Tries: MacDonald, Frizell, Aitken; Goals: Widdop 4
Full match reports of all this weekend’s NRL matches will feature in Monday’s League Express.
