Gidley leads the way as Knights trounce Roosters

A Man of the Match performance was in order from Kurt Gidley as he led his side from the front - the Knights continuing on their winning way in outshining the Roosters 38-6 at the Sydney Football Stadium.

The writing was seemingly on the wall early for the home side when centre Iosia Soliola left the field in the 2nd minute with a knee injury, never to return again in the match.

The Knights had the weight of possession early in the match and to the Roosters credit they managed to hold out some great attacking options by the Knights until the 18th minute when the visitors finally succeeded in crossing the line with Zeb Taia scoring the first of his 2 tries in the game.

The halftime score of 22-0 to the Knights certainly a true indication of how the first half had panned out with the Knights after their first try, making good use of the ball in hand, and the Roosters, although scrambling in defence very well, finally giving way to the relentless attack.

A try to the Roosters early in the second half gave their supporters a glimmer of hope but that was soon squashed as the Knight with their patient football, finished the match off in style.

With the stats of 40 missed tackles against them, it was always an uphill battle for the Roosters tonight against a side that showed they are definitely the real goods in 2009.

MATCH DETAILS Newcastle Knights 38 def Sydney Roosters 6 Round 10 - Saturday May 16th, 2009 5:30pm Venue: Sydney Football Stadium Referee: Steve Lyons & Chris James Sideline Officials: Peter Kirby & David Abood Video Referee: Chris Ward Crowd: 8,611 Halftime; Knights 22-0

Sydney Roosters 6 Tries: Jordan Tansey Goals: Braith Anasta (1/1) Newcastle Knights 38 Tries: Zeb Taia (2), Jarrod Mullen (2), Cooper Vuna, Danny Wicks Goals: Kurt Gidley (7/8)

LeagueUnlimited.com Player of the Match 3 Points: Kurt Gidley (Knights) 2 Points: Jarrod Mullen (Knights) 1 Point: Cooper Vuna (Knights)

LeagueUnlimited.com Live Commentary ROOSTERS: 1. Jordan Tansey 2. Sam Perrett 3. Setaimata Sa 4. Ben Jones 5. Shaun Kenny-Dowall 6. Braith Anasta 7. Mitchell Pearce 8. Nate Myles 9. Jake Friend 10. Frank Paul Nuuausala 11. Iosia Soliola 12. Craig Fitzgibbon 13. Willie Mason Interchange: 14. Lopini Paea 15. Mark O'Meley 16. Shane Shackleton 17. Nick Kouparitsas; Reserves: 18. Sisa Waqa KNIGHTS: 1. Kurt Gidley (c) 2. James McManus 3. Junior Sau 4. Adam MacDougall 5. Akuila Uate 6. Ben Rogers 7. Jarrod Mullen 8. Mark Taufua 9. Isaac DeGois 10. Chris Houston 11. Steve Simpson 12. Zeb Taia 13. Matt Hilder Interchange: 14. George Ndaira 15. Marvin Karawana 16. Richie Fa