Slaughter in
the chook pen

It was a slaughter which would make most men cringe.

The Sydney Roosters all but killed the New Zealand Warriors along with their hopes and chances of a finals spot as they thrashed them by 58 to 6 at Aussie Stadium this afternoon.

The Roosters dominated the whole match from the outset showing the gap between the Sydney club and the Auckland club is miles apart. The Warriors simply had no ball to work with and what ball they did have, they fumbled or kicked it out on the full.

The Roosters lead by Brett Finch looked their most dangerous throwing the ball around as the Warriors defence was standing still, breaking the line with perfectly executed offloads. The Warriors looked good in places defending the line but the forwards quickly ran out puff as the Roosters scored four tries in the last ten minutes before halftime to lead 30 to nil.

The Warriors scored a try through Iafeta Paleaaesina early in the second half but the rest of the match went the Roosters way limiting the Warriors go forward and putting pressure on their last tackle options.

Without any of the Warriors' forwards managing to pass 100 metres in the gain department, the Roosters simply capitalised and went on with the job.

For the Warriors, their final hopes are all but gone as they seem to resigned to a long season. 2005 won't come quickly enough.

Scorers: ROOSTERS 58 Tries: Hodges 3, Byrne 2, Cross, Cusack, Crocker, Finch, Lester, Ricketson Goals: Fitzgibbon 4/6, Walker 3/5 defeated WARRIORS 6 Tries: Paleaaesina Goals: Faumuina 1/1

Aussie Stadium Referee: Matt Cecchin Video Referee: Chris Ward. Touch Judges: Darren Gocher, Paul Kalina

By the clock: The big news is Warriors captain Monty Betham will start the match, his first game since Round 1. The Roosters will have four players backing up from origin 1.

0 min: Warriors kickoff.

5 min: News - Great start from the Warriors putting plenty of pressure on the Roosters, Some of their execution has been average.

6 min: News - The Warriors hold up Brad Fittler in goal.

10 min: Try - Roosters: After several sets of six inside the Warriors 20 metres Brad Fittler throws a great inside pass to Todd Byrne to score. Chris Walkers conversion goes wide. 4-0 Roosters

13 min: News - Brad Fittler set up Chad Robinson for an easy try only for him to spill it over the line.

17 min: News - Iafeta Paleaaesina & Ned Catic off with injuries, they should be able to come back on later.

19 min: News - Brad Fittler puts in a grubber inside the in goal area, a flying Todd Byrne spills it forward.

23 min: Try - Roosters: Justin Hodges runs across the field he passes to Ryan Cross who scores out wide. Craig Fitzgibbon conversion attempt hits the post. 8-0 Roosters

30 min: News - The Roosters are starting put a strangle hold on this match, in saying that the Warriors have done well in defence and have been let down by a couple of poor refereeing decisions

32 min: Try - Roosters: Peter Cusack scores after the Roosters reeked havoc in the dummy half area with some quick plays catching the Warriors off guard. Fitzgibbon converts. 14-0 Roosters

35 min: Try - Roosters: The Roosters catch the Warriors off guard again with some slick offloads and passes resulting in Justin Hodges scoring in the corner. Fitzgibbon's kick goes wide. 18-0 Roosters

39 min: Try - Roosters: Brett Finch puts in a grubber, Vinnie Anderson knocks it on and Justin Hodges simply converts on it. Fitzgibbon converts. 24-0 Roosters

40 min: Try - Roosters: Ryan Cross break the Warriors line, Todd Byrne then tosses the ball over his head for Michael Crocker who scores an outstanding try. Fitzgibbon converts.

Halftime: The Warriors havent had any position in the last ten minutes whilst the Roosters have scored 4 tries. You cant score points without the ball. Sydney Roosters are leading 30-0 at the break Possesion: Roosters 59%, Warriors 41% Line breaks: Roosters 6, Warriors 0 Completions: Roosters 22/26, Warriors 11/16 Offloads: Roosters 11, Warriors 2 Mis-Tackles: Roosters 4, Warriors 19

40 min: Roosters kickoff.

47 min: Try - Warriors: Simple try for the Warriors after Iafeta Paleaaesina ran onto a pass near the line. Sione Faumuina converts. 30-6 Roosters

50 min: Try - Roosters: Brett Finch runs through several Warriors defenders to score. Fitzgibbon converts. 36-6 Roosters

57 min: Try - Roosters: Brett Finch opens it up for Chris Walker to run through, he passes it wide to Justin Hodges who then offloads it to Gavin Lester to score. Walker converts. 42-6 Roosters

59 min: News - Brett Finch's pass to Chris Walker goes forward right on the tryline.

60 min: News - Warriors cough the ball up on the first tackle in good territory suming up the Warriors preformance today.

64 min: Try - Roosters: Justin Hodges scores a hatrick of tries running around Ryan Cross and beating Brent Webb in one and one tackle attempt. Walker converts. 48-6 Roosters

69 min: Try - Roosters: Brett Finch puts up a bomb everybody misses the ball and Luke Ricketson picks the ball up and dives over the line. Walkers kick hits the post. 52-6 Roosters

70 min: News - Not one Warriors forward has made over 100 metres showing the Roosters domination over them.

79 min: Try - Roosters: Todd Byrne takes over 3 Warriors players with him as he scores what should be the final act of this match. Walker converts. 58-6 Roosters

Full Time: It's all over. A dominant preformance by the Roosters as the Warriors fumbled their way through the whole match. Possesion: Roosters 56%, Warriors 44% Line breaks: Roosters 12, Warriors 2 Completions: Roosters 38/44, Warriors 17/29 Offloads: Roosters 22, Warriors 6 Mis-Tackles: Roosters 14, Warriors 44 ----------------------------------------- Leagueunlimited.com players of the match: 3 - B Finch (Roosters) 2 - J Hodges (Roosters) 1 - C Walker (Roosters) -----------------------------------------