Brisbane embarrassed Newcastle to keep finals hopes alive

The Brisbane Broncos have kept their finals hopes alive as they embarrassed the Newcastle Knights, 48-6, at Suncorp Stadium in front of 22,282.

It started as a scrappy affair with the errors mounting in the early minutes. Brisbane began to control and dominate the ruck mid-way through the first half which saw them collect first points.

Daniel Vidot awarded Brisbane's first try by the video referees as Justin Hodges provided the play on the right side.

Brisbane controlled majority of the game as they took a 14-0 lead into the break as Matt Gillett and Jack Reed crossed in the minutes before half time. Justin Hodges again in the action to provide the foundation for the points.

Korbin Sims gave Knights supporters some hope of a fightback in the second half as he surged over next to the uprights from a quick tap penalty. However, for Newcastle, that would be their own four-pointer of the match.

The Broncos opened the floodgates in the final 20 minutes as they ran in 34 unanswered points. Lachlan Maranta fired the first shot as he crossed via the hands of Dale Copley and Justin Hodges in the 60th minute.

Minutes later the Ben Barba showed started as he crafted a hat trick in 10 minutes. His speed and footwork saw him bring up three tries in the 61st, 66th and 71st minutes.

The final points came as Corey Oates and Jack Reed scored similar tries breaking through the line untouched to secure the victory which keeps their finals dreams in play.

Corey Parker made it a night to remember as he became the Broncos second highest points scorer, over taking Michael De Vere. He now has Darren Lockyer's point tally to chase down to claim top position.

Brisbane ran riot over the Knights as they struggled to close the holes in their tiring defensive line. Newcastle were without the services of Jeremy Smith and Kade Snowden who were suspended following the results of the ASADA investigation.

Next week the Broncos host the Dragons at Suncorp Stadium on Friday Night as they again fight for a top 8 position. Meanwhile Newcastle trek back to the Hunter as they prepare to face the Parramatta Eels on Saturday afternoon. 

BRISBANE BRONCOS (48)
Tries: Daniel Vidot, Matt Gillett, Jack Reed (2), Lachlan Maranta, Ben Barba (3), Corey Oates
Field Goals:
Conversions: Corey Parker (4/5), Ben Hunt (2/4)
Penalty Goals:

NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS (6)
Tries: Korbin Sims
Field Goals:
Conversions: Kurt Gidley (1/1)
Penalty Goals:

LATE MAIL: Newcastle - Jarrod Mullen is OUT with a corked calf, this sees Michael Dobson come into the halves. Travis Waddell starts at hooker, Adam Clydsdale moves to the bench. Jeremy Smith and Kade Snowden have been replaced on the interchange by Chris Houston and Joseph Tapine under their ASADA bans.

LATE MAIL: Brisbane - No changes for the home side, they take the field 1-17

FULL TIME in Under 20s action at Suncorp Stadium, the Brisbane Broncos have defeated top of the table, Newcastle Knights, 36-16. The win sees the club move to 2nd on the Holden Cup ladder with 2 games remaining.

1: We are UNDERWAY on Super Saturday at Suncorp Stadium as the Newcastle Knights kick off.

1: Ben Hunt completes the first set for the Knights, Knights come up with possession inside their 30 metre zone.

2: Tyrone Roberts angles a kick towards the posts and it's taken well by Sam Thaiday. End to end sets to start us off tonight

3: Ben Barba rolls a kick dead on the end of the set and the Knights will get a scrum feed 10 metres off their try line

4: UNFORCED ERROR NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS
Dane Gagai makes an unforced error.
Dane Gagai fumbles the ball out of the back of the scrum on the first hit up and the Broncos will get an opportunity 10 metres out from the Knights line.

4: First penalty of the game comes, Beau Scott concedes for holding down. Brisbane attack 5 metres out from the Knights try line.

5: Ben Hunt throws a long pass to no one as Ben Barba over runs the ball. Penalty follows up for the Knights for a slow release, Knights advance over the half way line.

6: UNFORCED ERROR NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS
Sione Mata'utia makes an unforced error.
Sione Mata'utia is belted across the top as he attempted to duck under the Broncos defence as the Knights shifted to the left side. Scrum packs for the Broncos 10 metres off their try line.

8: Andrew McCullough finds the sideline on the end of the set, it bounces over the line on the western side to give the Knights a scrum feed.

9: Penalty against the Knights here, offside is the call. Touch finder sees the Broncos attack from half way.

10: Chanel Mata'utia with some brilliant covering defence stops Daniel Vidot close at the try line. Back to the 10 metre line on last tackle for Brisbane

11: Sione Mata'utia concedes a line drop out as he forced the ball on the try line. Broncos come up with the possession now.

12: Daniel Vidot looking for points down the eastern sideline is unable to jump on a short grubber kick from Justin Hodges.

12: Sam Thaiday comes up with a high tackle, penalty awarded to give the Knights possession 35 metres out

13: UNFORCED ERROR NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS
Beau Scott makes an unforced error.
Beau Scott juggles a short pass at the defensive line and it's dropped. Broncos will pack a scrum 20 metres off their own line.

14: Ben Hunt rockets a kick downfield on 1st tackle, no one down at home and the Broncos almost race away to score but it's dived on by Newcastle.

15: Mistake from the Knights hands back possession to the Broncos on half way

15: Daly Copley comes up with a fumble and the slippery conditions making handling an issue tonight.

16: The Broncos defuse the kick in goal, zero tackle 20 metre tap to follow.

17: Ben Barba pockets a grubber through the line, Brisbane just missing the bounce. Line drop out comes for Brisbane as a result.

19: Shoulder charge penalty, Lachlan Maranta knocked away from the Hunt kick on last tackle. Brisbane attacking 10 metres out from a quick tap

19: VIDEO REFEREE for the Broncos, we have a TRY for Daniel Vidot. Ground here.

20: TRY BRISBANE BRONCOS
Scored by Daniel Vidot. Kick to come.
Daniel Vidot gets GREEN LIGHTS and first points on the board as the Brisbane shifted to the eastern side through Justin Hodges and Jack Reed. He dives over in the corner and plants the ball inside the corner post

21: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION BRISBANE BRONCOS
Conversion attempt by Corey Parker successful.
Corey Parker from the eastern sideline slots the conversion to extend this lead mid-way through the opening half

21: False start from the kick restart… we will have it again. Referee not ready

23: UNFORCED ERROR NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS
Tyrone Roberts makes an unforced error.
Change over at the 10 metre line as Roberts fumbles the wayward pass on last tackle as he shaped to kick. Broncos with possession

25: Roberts' kick drifted away from everyone and it bounced awkwardly over the sideline. Scrum packs for the Broncos 20 metres from the half way line.

27: UNFORCED ERROR NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS
Tyrone Roberts makes an unforced error.
Tyrone Roberts lost grip on last tackle and literally handed possession to the Broncos. ZERO TACKLE ruled and the Broncos attack 25 metres out from the Knights try line.

28: UNFORCED ERROR BRISBANE BRONCOS
Ben Hannant makes an unforced error.
Ben Hannant can't handle the short pass at the line, ZERO TACKLE now with the Knights inside their own 30 metre line.

29: UNFORCED ERROR NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS
Joseph Leilua makes an unforced error.
Joseph Leilua can't handle the ball, their completion rate drops under 50%. Possession hard to keep in the wet conditions. Broncos attack on half way

30: Kurt Gidley forces the ball dead and it's a line drop out for the Broncos. Alex Glenn was flying through the line off a Barba grubber but the ball just beat him.

31: UNFORCED ERROR BRISBANE BRONCOS
Josh McGuire makes an unforced error.
Josh McGuire fumbles the ball in the ruck as they looked to play quickly, scrum packs for the Knights 20 metres off their own try line.

32: UNFORCED ERROR BRISBANE BRONCOS
Lachlan Maranta makes an unforced error.
Lachlan Maranta loses the ball as he looked to slip through the line. Zero tackle for the Knights.

33: Penalty awarded for the Knights, high tackle on Joseph Leilua. Newcastle attack 15 metres out

34: VIDEO REFEREE for the Knights, we have NO TRY for Roberts

34: NO TRY for Tyrone Roberts, he grounds it on the dead ball line. 20m tap for the Broncos.

35: TRY BRISBANE BRONCOS
Scored by Matt Gillett. Kick to come.
Matt Gillet has crashed over for the Broncos, a show and go from Justin Hodges set up the points as the Broncos make it a 10 point lead with a kick to come.

36: UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION BRISBANE BRONCOS
Conversion attempt by Ben Hunt unsuccessful.
Ben Hunt has stepped in as goal kicker with Corey Parker off the field. From 20 metres wide of the posts on the right side, he fails to slot the points to extend the lead

39: TRY BRISBANE BRONCOS
Scored by Jack Reed. Kick to come.
Jack Reed cracks the defend off a pin-point kick from Alex Glenn, he darts away from the back defenders and strolls over for the Broncos. Brilliant try from Brisbane.

40: UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION BRISBANE BRONCOS
Conversion attempt by Ben Hunt unsuccessful.
Ben Hunt with pushes the kick across the face of posts from the left side and the points go begging

41: Second half is UNDERWAY as the Broncos kick off. Not the best start as they concede a penalty on second tackle. Newcastle attack 10 metres out

41: TRY NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS
Scored by Korbin Sims. Kick to come.
Korbin Sims has surged off a quick tap from the penalty and powered over next to the posts. Brilliant running from Sims!

42: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS
Conversion attempt by Kurt Gidley successful.
Kurt Gidley with the conversion attempt from beside the uprights closes the gap

44: Ben Barba's kick on last tackle rockets out on the full. Change over for the Knights 10 metres short of half way

46: Justin Hodges gets the handbag out as he makes friends with Beau Scott. Time off here as they get their anger out, no punches thrown.

47: Ben Hunt rolls a kick to the corner, just doesn't sit up for the chasers. Gidley watches it roll over the sideline as his side will earn a scrum feed 10 metres off their own line.

50: UNFORCED ERROR NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS
Willie Mason makes an unforced error.
Willie Mason is left scratching his head, he comes up with a mistake as he charged into a two man tackle. Scrum for the Broncos 10 metres short of half way

51: VIDEO REFEREE for the Broncos, Jack Reed as NO TRY. Possible held up over the try line.

51: NO TRY for Reed after several looks. Held up, back to the 10m line on last tackle.

53: Ben Hunt rushes a grubber kick through the defence on last tackle, it's too long and beats everyone over the sideline. Scrum for Newcastle 10 metres off their try line.

54: Penalty to the Knights, Kurt Gidley tackled without the ball. Kick from the Knights over the sideline gives Newcastle a full set 30 metres out

55: Ben Barba with great hands easily cleans up the short kick on last tackle from Michael Dobson. Broncos with possession deep in their own half

56: Lachlan Maranta breaks away from the chasers down the eastern side, it's followed up with a penalty as the defenders covered up too long. Broncos attack 10 metres out.

58: TRY BRISBANE BRONCOS
Scored by Lachlan Maranta. Kick to come.
Dale Copley takes a pin-point short ball from Dale Copley who linked with Justin Hodges and he reached out for the line as he dived over in the corner. Brilliant shifting play from

58: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION BRISBANE BRONCOS
Conversion attempt by Corey Parker successful.
Corey Parker is back on for Brisbane as he nails the conversion attempt from the western sideline

60: TRY BRISBANE BRONCOS
Scored by Ben Barba. Kick to come.
Ben Barba takes an insight pass from Daniel Vidot and strolls in for the Broncos. Reed started the play as he offloaded to create the broken play, Brisbane all over the Knights at this point.

61: UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION BRISBANE BRONCOS
Conversion attempt by Corey Parker unsuccessful.
Corey Parker nails the goal into the posts and it's bounced back straight into his hands. No goal

62: Incredible hands from Daniel Vidot, he manages to save the low, short kick restart from the Knights. Broncos have possession middle of the field at the 20 metre line.

63: ZERO TACKLE for the Knights as the attempt at offload is lost. Newcastle with a full set possession just shy of half way

66: TRY BRISBANE BRONCOS
Scored by Ben Barba. Kick to come.
Ben Barba takes an intercept and strolls 40 metres untouched and Brisbane make it a 22 point lead

67: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION BRISBANE BRONCOS
Conversion attempt by Corey Parker successful.
Corey Parker slots the conversion attempt from right in front, he becomes the equal second highest points scorer for Brisbane, just behind Darren Lockyer now

69: Change over for the Broncos, they start their set 10 metres inside the Knights half.

70: Penalty to the Broncos, offside from marker is the call against Newcastle. Broncos take the tap and attack 10 metres out

71: VIDEO REFEREE for the Broncos, we have a TRY for Barba. Onside in question from a Ben Hunt kick through the line.

71: TRY BRISBANE BRONCOS
Scored by Ben Barba. Kick to come.
Ben Barba has a HAT TRICK as the video referee gives up the GREEN LIGHTS! He races in off a beautiful 3rd tackle grubber from Ben Hunt

72: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION BRISBANE BRONCOS
Conversion attempt by Corey Parker successful.
Corey Parker makes no mistake from in front of the uprights to extend this lead

72: FORWARD PASS denies the Broncos another possible try. Scrum on halfway for Knights

75: Dane Gagai looked to link with Sione Mata'utia on the western sideline as an overlap was created, however his pass is given straight to the touch judge. Change over for the Broncos

77: TRY BRISBANE BRONCOS
Scored by Corey Oates. Kick to come.
Corey Oates has split the defends and it's simple stuff. Brilliant hands from Justin Hodges to give the short ball away to his big unit on the outside.

78: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION BRISBANE BRONCOS
Conversion attempt by Ben Hunt successful.
Ben Hunt back with the kicking tee, he slots the extras from in front

79: TRY BRISBANE BRONCOS
Scored by Jack Reed. Kick to come.
Jack Reed races away easily and untouched as Ben Barba fooled the defence from the kick off and it's all Brisbane. Brilliance.

79: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION BRISBANE BRONCOS
Conversion attempt by Ben Hunt successful.
Ben Hunt adds the extras from right in front of the posts and Brisbane have embarrassed Newcastle