Roosters do it well at Aussie
Stadium

A solid performance by the Roosters to defeat the Knights by 36 - 14 at Aussie Stadium.

After a lot of rain during the week, Aussie Stadium held up well as the Roosters never looked threatened by the visiting Newcastle side. A close half time score, 14 - 8 in favour of the Roosters looked to have a tight contest.

But both forwards and backs in the Sydney side stepped up in the second half and it was soon clear that the second half would be no contest.

League Unlimited Players of the Match:

3 - C Wing (Roosters) 2 - B Finch (Roosters) 1 - J Hodges (Roosters)

Scorers: ROOSTERS 36 Tries: Minichiello, Cross x2, Byrne, Hodges, Hegarty Goals: Fitzgibbon (5/7), Fittler (1/1) defeated KNIGHTS 14 Tries: K Gidley, Hall Goals: Johns (3/3)

By the clock:

A few interesting match ups today, players competing for spots in the NSW Origin side. The weather is overcast, and ground conditions good considering the atrocious weather in Sydney this week.

5th min: TRY - K Gidley for Knights. A mistake a piece, 30 metres from the Knights line and Newcastle go the short side from dummy half. 2 defenders on 3 attackers, and Gidley has a clear run to the line. Johns, from 4 metres in from touch, gets a beauty kick. Knights 6-0

8th min: TRY - Minichiello for Roosters. A penalty gets the Roosters down the right end of the field. Fittler using the old run around to perfection to get the ball out to Minichiello whose strength gets him across the line. Fitzgibbon from right on the touch line gets a pearler of a kick. 6-6

11th min: PENALTY GOAL - Johns for Knights. Easy kick for Johns after Payton (Roosters) was penalised for an incorrect play of the ball. Knights 8-6

20th min: NEWS - A tight game as expected between the two sides, Newcastle seemingly with slightly more possession. Kennedy (Knights) a little restricted from his niggly hamstring injury.

25th min: TRY - Cross for Roosters. Simple football after Wing took the ball to the line. 2 tackles later, one head clash and Cross in over, taking a nice lump on his head with him. Fitzgibbon from 20 metres in, hits it down the middle. Roosters 12-8

33rd min: NEWS - Great defence shown by Newcastle to keep the Roosters from scoring twice. Kennedy (Knights) running more freely. Roosters starting to throw the ball around

35th min: PENALTY GOAL - Fitzgibbon for Roosters. Price (Knights) penalised for interference in the play of the ball. A kick from 35 metres out is over for the Roosters. Roosters 14-8

HALF TIME: Both teams close to scoring at the end of the half. Penalty count 7-4 in favour of the Roosters. Johns getting pretty frustrated with the calls from the ref.

44th min: NEWS - Injury news from both sides at half time. Kennedy (Knights) still having slight problems with his hamstring injury, Rudder has a burst blood vessel in his cheek. Cross (Roosters)also has a burst blood vessel, on his forehead from when he scored his try

50th min: NEWS - Both sides getting chances but not managing to finish them off. Penalty count starting to even up

53rd min: PENALTY GOAL - Fitzgibbon for Roosters. Real go forward by the Roosters, the Knight penalised 22 metres out from the posts for a hand on the ball during the play of the ball. Roosters 16-8

54th min: TRY - Byrne for Roosters. A huge punt down the field from Fittler, great chase by Morley to put pressure on the catcher, he drops it. Hodges sensibly holds up the ball for Byrne to score. Fitzgibbon from 15 metres in, misses the conversion. Roosters 20-8

57th min: TRY - Hodges for Roosters. From the restart, Roosters come up with the ball, spread it wide to Hodges who manages to wrong foot the opposition, and sprint down the sideline to score. Fitzgibbon, from the sideline, misses the kick. Roosters 24-8

70th min: NEWS - Newcastle very close to scoring, Newtown looked like he just needed to stretch out, but flicked it back instead, straight into Cross's hands, no try

72nd min: TRY - Hall for Knights. Close to their line, the Roosters defenders had come in, and Rudder throws the flat pass to Hall who scores right in the corner. Johns, right from the touchline, gets a great kick. Roosters 24-14

76th min: TRY - Cross for Roosters. On the last tackle, Finch put a lovely grubber through into the in goal, and Cross raced behing to get the ball down before the dead ball line. Fitzgibbon from near in front of the posts, does not not miss. Roosters 30-14

80th min: TRY - Hegarty for Roosters. Right on full time, the Roosters had one last shot. The ball thrown wide looked to have gone out in touch, but Heagarty gathers it in, and scores with the defence asleep. Fittler, from the sideline, gets the kick. Roosters 36-14

FULL TIME: Solid performance by the Roosters, never looking threatened. Newcastle have noticed the players missing through injury.