Knights punish sleepy Roosters

Match Summary The Newcastle Knights have ignored an 8-point halftime deficit to produce an outstanding 34-20 victory over the Sydney Roosters at Bluetongue Stadium in Gosford today.

The Knights powered away towards the end of the match with 4 tries in the last 11 minutes to take the lead and seal the result, as the Roosters faded badly after looking like the stronger team for much of the match. Knights forward Danny Wicks placed an exclamation mark on the game with an 80th minute try after making a clean break through the Roosters defence and out-pacing their defensive attempts - a sensational effort for a big man, and a fitting end to a strong Knights performance.

Before fading out, the Roosters had looked pretty strong themselves. Craig Fitzgibbon opened the scoring after only 7 minutes, and further tries to Amos Roberts, Iosia Soliola and Shaun Kenny-Dowall opened up a 20-12 lead. As both teams headed for the sheds at halftime, the Roosters seemed to have the game on a string while the Knights were trying hard for little reward.

The second half produced a completely different match. Both teams threw everything at each other for a sustained period, and desperate attack was met with equally desperate defence. It wasn