Inglis stars in Melbourne victory over
Roosters

Round 13
Melbourne Storm 20 v Sydney Roosters 16
at Olympic Park
Referees: Ben Cummins

Match Summary:
The Melbourne Storm has defeated the Sydney Roosters 20-16 here at Olympic Park in a thriller of a contest. Numerous big hits and great attacking raids made for a great spectacle which saw the Storm win their 10th consecutive match at Olympic park.

The first half was filled with fast and entertaining football with both teams not afraid to throw the ball around and both teams putting on some big hits. Ryan Cross got the scoring underway with some help from lady luck when the kick from Brett Finch rebounded of the knee of Scott Hill into the waiting arms of Cross. The Storm responded very quickly with Steve Turner on the end of a beautiful set move. Hooker Cameron Smith nailed the conversion from the side line to give the home team a 6-4 lead. The Storm looked like they were in again when Steve Turner took a cross field bomb and came down with it, but the touch judge ruled that he had knocked the ball on. The small but vocal crowd were then treated with a piece of individual brilliance by Greg Inglis who ran 60m to score a fantastic try.

The second half started with the Storm making a bigger lead with Jake Webster scoring a well worked try. The Roosters then hit back immediately with Vince Mellars on the end of a lovely pass from New South Wales five eight Braith Anasta. Then from there Amos Roberts takes the ball from his 20m line and steps past Origin winger Greg Inglis to score an 80m try. The Storm then punished the Roosters for losing the ball close to the line and Greg Inglis picked up a double after an easy try from dummy half. The Roosters had a number of chances to go over again but just couldn?t turn possession into points.

On the injury front, Amos Roberts picked up a knee injury after scoring his fantastic try. The Roosters will have a big problem though with Ashley Harrison and Lopini Paea being put on report after a dangerous tackle on Melbourne prop Ben Cross.


Scorers:
Melbourne Storm: 20
Tries: Greg Inglis(2), Steve Turner, Jake Webster
Goals: Cameron Smith 2/4
Sydney Roosters: 16
Tries: Ryan Cross, Amos Roberts, Vince Mellars
Goals: Amos Roberts 1/2, Jamie Soward 1/1

By the Clock:
Welcome to Olympic Park in Melbourne for this round 13 battle between the Melbourne Storm and the Sydney Roosters. The Storm are coming off a great win in golden point against the Panthers while the Roosters are looking to get back on track after they lost to the Eels last week.
This match also marks the return of former origin fullback Billy Slater, who will be making his return off the bench and will be looking to impress Queensland selectors.

Should be a cracker of a match!

The changes:

For the Roosters, Captain Craig Fitzgibbion has succumbed to his ankle injury and it out of today?s match. Former Queensland origin player John Doyle is also out of the squad today with Heath L?estrange coming onto the bench. Nigel Plum moves into the second row to cover for Fitzgibbion.

For the Storm, Billy Slater makes his long awaited return to the Storm line up of the bench while Nathan Friend moves off the bench.

The Roosters kick us off here at Olympic Park with the storm having a slight breeze behind them.

2 min: NEWS Roosters make an early mistake through Adrian Morley. Storm in great field position in the early going.

5 min: TRY Sydney Roosters
A piece of luck comes the Roosters way for them to open up the scoring here at Olympic park. Finch puts in a grubber kick which rebounds of the knee of Scott Hill which sees Ryan Cross pouncing on the ball to score out wide.
Roberts hits the post with his conversion attempt.
Roosters 4-0

9 min: NEWS Amos Roberts and Brett Finch cautioned by the Referee for a dangerous tackle.
The Storm receive a penalty and are in the Roosters 20m zone.

10 min: TRY Melbourne Storm
A lovely set move from the Melbourne Storm sees the winger Steve Turner go over. A wrap around play with Cameron Smith who finds fullback Greg Inglis who then gives the ball off to Steve Turner who grabs his 7th try of the season.
Cameron Smith nails the conversion.
Storm 6-4

18 min: NEWS Roosters again give away a penalty which gives the Storm an invitation in their own 20m zone.
Storm on the attack but Scott Hill loses the ball out of dummy half on the 2nd play.

21 min: NEWS Cameron Smith shows his kicking skills with a well weighted kick into the in-goal line which gives them a repeat set.

22 min: NEWS Soliola and Morley put on back to back big hits! The vocal crowd really getting into this game now.

23 min: NEWS No Try - Steve Turner collects a cross field bomb and comes down with it but the touch judge says he knocked on. It looked like it should of been sent up to the Video Referee but we go out to a 20m tap for the Roosters.

24 min: NEWS Ouch! Mayhem here at Olympic Park! Roosters forwards Paea and Harrison lift up Ben Cross above the horizontal and are put on report.

30 min: NEWS Cameron Smith gives his forwards a break with a kick that finds touch one metre away from the try line.

32 min: NEWS The Roosters starting to get the fumbles with Craig Wing knocking the ball on in good field position.

38 min: TRY Melbourne Storm
Greg Inglis scores one of the best individual tries you will ever see. He brushes away from 2 defenders, then out paces Amos Roberts to put the Storm up by 6 points. What a star this kid is!
Cameron Smith converts
Storm 12-4

40 min: NEWS Halftime here at Olympic Park. The crowd is still buzzing over Greg Inglis and his magnificent try.

Halftime stats:

Possession: Melbourne Storm - 54% Sydney Roosters - 46%
Completion Rate: Melbourne Storm - 17/21 Sydney Roosters - 13/17
Errors: Melbourne Storm ? 4 Sydney Roosters - 4
Line Breaks: Melbourne Storm - 2 Sydney Roosters - 0

Both teams have been great in the first half. The Storm have had the better of the possession but the Roosters defence for the most part has been excellent. The line speed of both teams have been awsome and we are sure to see some more great football in this second half.

Second half underway here at Olympic park!

43 min: NEWS Cameron Smith makes an unusal mistake and loses the ball from dummy half. The mistake allows the pressure off the Roosters team.

47 min: NEWS A nice attacking raid led by the Roosters led by Braith Anasta and Brett Finch. The Storm hold on though and we are still locked at 12-4.

49 min: NEWS Yet another sloppy play the ball. This time from the Roosters and by David Shillington. Scrum 40m out to the Storm.

53 min: NEWS The Storm have the numbers and spread the ball wide but Amos Roberts bats the ball down and the Storm will now have a 10m scrum.

55 min: TRY Melbourne Storm
Another well worked set move gets the Melbourne Storm another try. Cronk delievers a pass to Inglis who gets on the outside of Soliola then offloads to Jake Webster who scores untouched. As the conversion is being taken Billy Slater comes into the game for the first time and is welcomed by a huge ovation.
Cameron Smith misses the conversion.
Storm 16-4

60 min: TRY Sydney Roosters
A great no-look pass from Braith Anasta sees winger Vince Mellars go over untouched. A good hit back from the Sydney Roosters.
Roberts converts the try and we now have a 6 point ball game.
Storm 16-10

64 min: TRY Sydney Roosters
What a try to Amos Roberts! The roosters go wide in their own territory and Tupou then offloads to a flying Amos Roberts who then puts a big step on Greg Inglis to score under the post. What a try scoring freak! Amos Roberts looks to have picked up a knee injury but is continuing on in the game.
Jamie Soward Converts the try.
16 all.

68 min: VIDEO REF: Possible try to Greg Inglis. Inglis in dummy half goes over and the Roosters complain that the marker was taken out of play. Try is awarderd!

68 min: TRY Melbourne Storm
Inglis scores out of dummy half after the Roosters defence moves up to quickly. One of the easiest tries Greg Inglis will ever score.
Cameron Smith misses the conversion.
Storm 20-16

70 min: NEWS Crossman loses the ball in their own territory. Can the Roosters make them pay?

71 min: NEWS Anasta forces the pass and turns over possession.

72 min: INJURY UPDATE - Amos Roberts has a knee injury and won't be back tonight. Cross moves to the wing and Flannery to the centres.

76 min: NEWS Inglis looked like he had a hat trick but a obstruction play is called.

77 min: NEWS Inglis drops a high bomb! The Roosters on the attack!

78 min: NEWS Inglis takes this bomb but gets driven into touch by Vince Mellars. The pressure is enormous! The Roosters on the attack again.

79 min: NEWS Cameron Smith pounces on the loose ball and the Storm look like they have another victory at Olympic park.

80 min: NEWS The Storm hold on in this great match!

Fulltime here at Olympic Park. A great contest between two teams that showed up to play. For the Storm, Greg Inglis was superb, along with David Kidwell and Cameron Smith in particular. Amos Roberts was dangerous for the Roosters all night but unforutnatly suffered a knee injury.

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Leagueunlimited.com players of the match:
3 - Greg Inglis
2 - Amos Roberts
1 - David Kidwell
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