In a Nutshell
English stars Michael Cooper and Sam Tomkins scored tries for St George Illawarra Dragons and New Zealand Warriors respectively, as the Dragons overcame the Warriors 20-10 at WIN Jubilee Oval to halt a run of three successive defeats in front of 10,559 spectators.
How it unfolded
Cooper scored the only other try of the first half when he ran over Tomkins to touch down under the posts.
Gareth Widdop’s two conversions gave the Dragons a 12-0 half-time lead.
In the 50th-minute Tomkins got the Warriors back into the game with a superb try. He picked up the ball 15 metres from his own goal-line, beat three defenders and touched down under the posts for his fourth try in seven games that was converted by Shaun Johnson.
A Widdop penalty extended the Dragons’ lead to 14-6, but the Dragons hit back with another exciting try from Manu Vatuvei that was again initiated by Tomkins.
The English star made a dash before passing to Dane Nielsen, who flicked the ball on to Vatuvei, who charged almost 50 metres, proving too strong for fullback Josh Dugan to touch down.
Johnson couldn’t add the goal from the touchline, however, and Dugan got his revenge soon afterwards with his first try of the year with just eleven minutes remaining, when he touched down a grubber kick from Witt, whose partnership with Widdop at halfback is paying dividends for the Dragons in 2014.
