St George Illawarra Dragons got back to winning ways on Anzac Day, beating Sydney Roosters 24-8.
The game got off to a fitting start. Ben Hunt faked to kick and ran. He found Cameron McInnes who fed Gareth Widdop. The English stand-off kicked to the corner where Blake Ferguson missed the ball allowing Nene MacDonald to gather and score.
The Dragons were on the wrong end of possession throughout the first half but were able to only concede a Latrell Mitchell penalty.
St George responded just before half-time when they had their first real opportunity in the Roosters’ red zone. Ben Hunt stepped off his right foot and cut through to score and make it 12-2 at half-time to the Dragons.
The Dragons started the second half just as well as the first. Widdop fed Tariq Sims who crashed his way over off the short ball.
Sydney have class and weren’t ever going to go away. Luke Keary broke up the middle and kicked wide for Mitchell who dived over.
But plenty of Dragons pressure ended with MacDonald grabbing his second try despite it looking as if he had dropped the ball in the act of scoring.
Dragons: Dufty, MacDonald, Aitken, Lafai, Nightingale, Widdop, Hunt, Graham, McInnes, Vaughan, Frizell, Sims, de Belin; Interchanges: Latimore, Mann, Ah Mau, Host
Tries: MacDonald 2, Hunt, Sims; Goals: Widdop 4
Roosters: Tedesco, Manu, Mitchell, Aubusson, Ferguson, Keary, Cronk, Tetevano, Friend, Napa, Cordner, Matterson, Liu; Interchanges: Waerea-Hargreaves, Taukeiaho, Butcher, Radley
Tries: Mitchell; Goals: Mitchell 2
Full match reports of all this weekend’s NRL games will feature in Monday’s League Express
