Broncos hold on in dour contest

v BYE

The Broncos have held on to defeat a fast finishing Dragons outfit by 12-8 in front of 5,662 fans at WIN Stadium, Wollongong.

With both sides coming into the match in poor form, the stakes for both sides were at a premium with positions in the top eight on the line.

In a match played in appalling conditions, points were at a premium in the opening half, with each side exchanging penalty goals in the early stages of play.

Having forced a repeat set midway through the half, Brisbane second rower Sam Thaiday latched onto an Anthony Milford grubber to give the visitors an 8-2 lead following Corey Parker's successful conversion from out wide.

With relentless rain throughout the match, neither side could add further points in the opening 40 minutes, with a stray forearm from Adam Blair collecting Will Matthews high the only other major talking point in an otherwise dour contest.

Needing to make an impact early in the second half, the Dragons came out enthusiastically and almost produced a try to Kurt Mann, after strong lead up work by debutant Luciano Leilua and Gareth Widdop, only for the winger to knock on in the process of gathering the ball.

Having survived a near scare, the Broncos steadied themselves by building pressure on the Dragons line, forcing several repeat sets before capitalising through a cut out pass that saw Lachlan Maranta cross out wide.

Unable to convert from the sideline, the visitors took a 12-2 lead into the final quarter of the match where there experience in the conditions came to the fore.

Opting to drive the ball downfield, the Broncos forced the Dragons to play out of their own half for the majority of the game before a fortuitous bomb from Benji Marshall saw Gareth Widdop touch down to set up a thrilling finish.

Trailing by just four points, the Dragons opted to throw the ball around to good effect, almost coming up with points only for poor execution to cruel the home side into a fifth straight win.

Moving into sixth position temporarily, the Broncos will look to build on their gritty performance next Friday night against the out of contention Eels, while the Dragons face an almost impossible task to qualify for the finals, needing to win all remaining matches to be a chance of featuring in September.

Next week the Broncos return to Suncorp Stadium on Friday night against the Eels, while the Dragons tackle the ladder leading Sharks at UOW Jubilee Oval Kogarah on Saturday night.