Missed opportunities aplenty as Warriors tough out win

The NZ Warriors have scored a 16-10 win over the Melbourne Storm in a thrilling ANZAC day clash infront of a record crowd of 28,716 at AAMI Park.

In the opening minutes the game was end to end with both sides creating pressure but neither could capitalise on these pressure with the Warriors managing to put kicks dead and down the other end of the field the ball didn't bounce in the favour of the home side which meant pressure was released on the Warriors.

For the majority of the half however it was the Warriors who created all the pressure in attack but on each occasion the Storm's defence was equal to the challenge set by the Warriors.

It was in the 11th minute that the Warriors got on the board through David Fusitua although the youngster had to wait for the Video Referees to give him the green lights to have the score added to the board.

The Warriors then extended their lead through Feleti Mateo who had to juggle the pass before putting the ball down one handed under the posts.

The last two minutes of the half set up a points scoring flurry with Kevin Proctor bursting through the line to score and then after the halftime siren, Shaun Johnson slotted a penalty goal to extend the Warriors lead to 6 points.

The second half looked good early for the Warriors, but as they say looks can be deceiving after the Warriors looked to have kicked a 40/20 however the touch judge ruled that the ball had gone out on the full however replays showed that might not have been the case at all.

From there all the momentum was with the Storm and they crossed early on through Young Tonumaipea and the margin was back to two after Cameron Smith was unable to convert the try.

The momentum kept rolling with the Storm who just went up the field like a set of army tanks but it was the last line of defence that saved the Warriors every time even with all the dropouts that had been forced by the Storm.

After facing almost a 20minute attacking barrage from the Storm, it was Shaun Johnson who changed the momentum to show some good passing, footwork and speed to score what ultimately was the match winning try for the visitors. The Warriors then picked up the momentum again and looked to have scored but after a video referee review they were denied. Shaun Johnson twice to secure victory with field goals however the first was charged down and the second one would be best not talking about.

The Storm took control again in the last 5 minutes however the Warriors defence stood strong and it was off a poor play from Billy Slater on full time that ultimately secured the unlikely victory for both sides.

Both sides get a week off next week, although a number of players will be selected for representative duties across the representative weekend.

MELBOURNE STORM (10)
Tries: Kevin Proctor, Young Tonumaipea
Conversions: Cameron Smith (1/2)

NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS (16)
Tries: David Fusitua, Shaun Johnson, Feleti Mateo
Field Goals: Shaun Johnson (0/2)
Conversions: Shaun Johnson (1/3)
Penalty Goals: Shaun Johnson (1/1)

LATE MAIL: Melbourne Storm - Dayne Weston and Tim Glasby drop off an extended bench to see the Storm take the field 1-17

LATE MAIL: New Zealand Warriors - Ben Henry starts in the centres with Konrard Hurrell added to bench. Dane Nielsen is the Warriors' 18th man

Both the Storm and Warriors make their way out on to AAMI Park for the official ANZAC ceremony

Last post echoing across a full AAMI Park

God Defend New Zealand currently being sung at AAMI Park, will be followed by Advance Australia Fair

Sam Tomkins kicks us off and the Storm take the first possession of the game

1: Cooper Cronk puts an early kick in that's taken by Sam Tomkins and he gets up towards halfway on the first play

2: Warriors already testing the Storm defence out with Ben Henry caught on the last just 5m out from the Storm line

3: Cooper Cronk goes early again with the kick, tackle 3 this time and from inside his own 20m, doesn't have the legs to get to the sideline and Tomkins works it away

4: Sam Tomkins puts a kick that goes into the ingoal and runs dead, Billy Slater runs it out for the quick 20m restart

5: Storm go early with the kick again in behind Manu Vatuvei and only a bad bounce for Sisa Waqa saves the Warriors

5: PENALTY WARRIORS: Warriors get a relieving penalty deep in their own half and end up on halfway

6: UNFORCED ERROR NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Simon Mannering makes an unforced error.
Simon Mannering drops the ball on the first tackle straight from the tap, pressure back on the Warriors

7: PENALTY STORM: Warriors penalised for a late hit on one of the Storm players

8: Cameron Smith puts a grubber kick in that's extremely well read by Shaun Johnson short of the line

8: PENALTY WARRIORS: Cameron Smith penalised for not getting off Shaun Johnson quick enough

9: PENALTY WARRIORS: Back to back penalties after referees rule Sebastine Ikahihifo was stripped off the ball

9: VIDEO REFEREE: Checking a possible David Fusitua try, checking sideline and grounding, Ashley Klein gives us the 'T' for TRY

11: TRY NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Scored by David Fusitua. Kick to come.
An acrobatic effort from David Fusitua gives him his first NRL try, credit to Shaun Johnson for the pass that set up the try

11: UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Conversion attempt by Shaun Johnson unsuccessful.
Shaun Johnson has the angle on the kick but just too much fade and it goes across the face of the posts

13: Warriors go high with the bomb and referees rule Billy Slater knocked it on so six more for the Warriors, just 10m out from the Storm line

14: Some good defence from the Storm combined with an average kick relieves the pressure and gives Melbourne 7 tackles

15: Bounce of the ball definitely with the Warriors, Cooper Cronk puts a chip over the top but the bounce favours the Warriors

16: Good kick from the Warriors confuses Young Tonumaipea and he makes a meal of it and ends up being forced dead by the Warriors

17: ??? well that's what the Warriors make you do and there it was again, Shaun Johnson on tackle 4 puts a grubber that goes about a metre at most

19: Billy Slater gets himself out of the ingoal in a tough situation but gets pushed into touch although initially touch judge signalled goalline dropout

20: Warriors paying homage to the Wiggles with their hot potato performance, ball goes from side to side with no real gain in metres

22: UNFORCED ERROR MELBOURNE STORM
Billy Slater makes an unforced error.
Billy Slater finds more holes in the Warriors defence than a piece of Jarlsberg cheese but ends up losing it in the tackle

23: Sam Tomkins puts a good kick in that can't be cleaned up by Billy Slater, then Young Tonumaipea is forced dead, dropout goes 55m on the full

24: UNFORCED ERROR NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Simon Mannering makes an unforced error.
Warriors create pressure and then once again let it go with Simon Mannering offloading straight to Cameron Smith

25: Strong defence from the Storm deep in the Warriors half, Warriors only make 30m in that set

27: PENALTY WARRIORS: Adam Gee rules the Storm markers weren't square, relieves the pressure again on the Warriors

29: TRY NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Scored by Feleti Mateo. Kick to come.
Warriors get six more tackles but don't need more than one to see Feleti Mateo bounce off Storm defenders, juggle a pass and then put the ball down one-handed under the black dot

30: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Conversion attempt by Shaun Johnson successful.
Shaun Johnson splits the goal posts down the middle to convert the try

31: Billy Slater and Manu Vatuvei go up for a bomb and Billy ends up taking the ball and coming down with Manu's forearm - Video Referees deem it as ok as both players were contesting the ball

33: Ben Hampton shows good speed goes through a hole but is brought down 15m out

34: UNFORCED ERROR NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Suaia Matagi makes an unforced error.
Storm get another set after Suaia Matagi knocks down a Young Tonumaipea pass, scrum for the Storm 10m out from the Warriors line

34: Justin O'Neill down after suffering a bad ankle injury, O'Neill comes from the field

34: PENALTY STORM: Pressure mounts on the Warriors after being penalised for not releasing the tackled player

34: Cooper Cronk goes short to Ben Hampton who is cut down close to the line, in the end ball ends up with the Warriors at the end of the set

36: Warriors put a kick in that forces Billy Slater deep into his own end but the Storm work it away and end up just 25m out from the Warriors line

37: Six more tackles for the Storm as Nathan Friend can't clean up a Cameron Smith tackle

38: TRY MELBOURNE STORM
Scored by Kevin Proctor. Kick to come.
The Cooper Cronk and Kevin Proctor comes up trumps for the Storm again with Kevin Proctor bursting through off a Cooper Cronk short ball

39: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION MELBOURNE STORM
Conversion attempt by Cameron Smith successful.
Cameron Smith converts the Proctor try

40: Justin O'Neill won't be back tonight, Storm officials believe he's suffered a fractured Tibia

40: SUCCESSFUL PENALTY GOAL NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Penalty goal attempt by Shaun Johnson successful.
Shaun Johnson extends the Warriors lead out to a converted try margin after the penalty goal

40: Both sides on the field for the second half and play is underway

42: Shaun Johnson goes for a 40/20 and it looked good but touch judge Chris Sutton signals the ball was out on the full, Video Referees review it and on one look they keep the onfield call

45: TRY MELBOURNE STORM
Scored by Young Tonumaipea. Kick to come.
A great set play from the Storm gives them an overlap and its Young Tonumaipea who scores in the corner, Warriors not happy about something in the play but no concerns for referee Ashley Klein

46: UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION MELBOURNE STORM
Conversion attempt by Cameron Smith unsuccessful.
Cameron Smith puts a good looking conversion in but it misses the target

48: Second half a complete opposite to the first, Storm making huge metres in attack whilst the Warriors are struggling in defence

50: Ben Henry slow to his feet for the Warriors as the Warriors struggle to make big metres in attack again in the second half

52: Another HUGE territorial gain from the Storm in that set, although the end goes astray with the tap back off a crossfield kick going over the sideline

53: Chad Townsend puts a kick in that looks way too deep but it bounces straight up and Slater cleans up 10m out from his own line

54: Another great passage of play from the Storm even though at one point they didn't look like they knew what they were doing, they force a goalline dropout

55: Waqa goes down the sideline but is caught about 6m from the Warriors line

56: ANOTHER dropout forced by the Storm, Sam Tomkins again the man forced to play at the ball

57: VIDEO REFEREE: Checking a Billy Slater try, Checking the grounding, Ashley Klein says NO TRY

57: UNFORCED ERROR MELBOURNE STORM
Billy Slater makes an unforced error.
Billy Slater reaches out and slams the ball down but its short of the line and it rolls away for a knock on

58: Melbourne create good pressure on the last and Shaun Johnson only just gets the kick away which is taken under no pressure by Billy Slater

59: PENALTY STORM: Last thing the Warriors needed was to concede a penalty and that's what they did, Storm on the attack deep in the Warriors half

60: Another dropout forced by the Warriors with Konrad Hurrell taking ingoal after Ashley Klein rules he left the field of play to take the ball

61: UNFORCED ERROR MELBOURNE STORM
Cooper Cronk makes an unforced error.
Storm pestering the short side but Cooper Cronk drops the ball behind him and lets the Warriors off the hook

62: Shaun Johnson looks to slow the game down by putting the ball into touch, Storm however have other ideas and rush to the scrum to keep the fast pace of the game going

63: Cooper Cronk puts up a floating bomb and its left to bounce by Sam Tomkins, luckily for the Warriors they get the ball back

64: TRY NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Scored by Shaun Johnson. Kick to come.
Shaun Johnson turns nothing into something with some great speed, footwork and offloads and he goes through to score

66: UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Conversion attempt by Shaun Johnson unsuccessful.
Shaun Johnson's average season with the boot continues with that one hitting the post to keep the margin within a converted try

67: Excellent crowd in attendance at AAMI Park - 28,716

69: VIDEO REFEREE: Checking a possible Jayson Bukuya try, checking the onside and grounding, Ashley Klein says NO TRY

70: NO TRY the ruling, video referee explaining that there was no touch from the Warriors and the only touch from the Storm was backwards, play the ball 10m out for the Storm

71: A poor set in attack from the Storm sees the Warriors on halfway on tackle 1

72: Repeat set for the Warriors, Shaun Johnson set up for the field goal, ball ends up with Tomkins who forces another set

72: Storm go short with the dropout but its cleaned up by the Warriors

73: UNSUCCESSFUL FIELD GOAL NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Field goal attempt by Shaun Johnson unsuccessful.
Shaun Johnson takes the field goal attempt but its charged down by the Storm, Warriors get six more

74: UNSUCCESSFUL FIELD GOAL NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Field goal attempt by Shaun Johnson unsuccessful.
Shaun Johnson under NO PRESSURE takes a field goal attempt that ends up closer to the corner post than the goal posts

75: Cooper Cronk chips for Billy Slater but some legal blocking denies Billy Slater the chance to get the ball

75: Sam Tomkins on the last tackle puts the ball down into the corner and it finds touch about 5m from the Storm line

75: PENALTY STORM: Storm hold the ball in the scrum and the Warriors leave early and are penalised by referee Adam Gee

77: Storm keep it going on the last but Tohu Harris is tackled on the last

77: Shaun Johnson kicks on tackle 4 and Billy Slater cleans it up on his own 10m line

79: Sisa Waqa is flying through but the Warriors clean it up and then inexplicably Chad Townsend gets up and he is pushed back into the ingoal

80: 20 Seconds - Storm within in 10 metres

80: FULL TIME - WARRIORS WIN 16-10