Roosters rack up 50 in second half blitz

Embed from Getty Images

Sydney Roosters v St George Illawarra Dragons

The Roosters piled on 42 points in 38 minutes to turn a 14-12 deficit into a thumping 54-26 victory against the St.George-Illawarra Dragons on the Central Coast.

Joseph Manu and Ben Hunt dominated the first half for their respective sides, before the Roosters turned up the heat after the break, ending their 4 game losing streak in emphatic fashion and resulting in the Roosters jumping the Dragons on the ladder and back into the top 8.

The scoring opened in the 14th minute when Sam Verrills darted out of dummy half before linking in the middle with Joseph Manu, who spun out of a tackle then got a little flick pass away to Victor Radley, who ran 30 metres to score under the posts. Sam Walker converted.

The Roosters crossed again in the 21st minute when Manu barged over from dummy half. Walker again added the extras.

The Dragons hit back in the 26th minute when Ben Hunt at second receiver, straightened his run, dummied and then took on the line, bumping out of a tackle before diving over to score under the sticks. Zac Lomax converted.

From the restart, Hunt kicked early and from inside his own 30 metres, nailing a 40/20. From the next set, the Dragons sent the ball right to Lomax who stood up his opposite number and then ran past him to score out wide. He then converted his own try to level the scores with 10 minutes remaining in the first half.

With 5 minutes remaining in the half, Lomax kicked a penalty goal to give the Dragons a 14-12 lead at halftime.

The Roosters reclaimed the lead just 2 minutes after play resumed when Connor Watson burst into a huge space in the middle of the field and run 20 metres to score under the posts. Walker converted from in front.

In the 46th minute Aaron Woods was sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes for obstruction. Walker kicked a penalty goal.

Despite being down to 12 men, the Dragons scored in the 49th minute when Cody Ramsay produced a brilliant solo effort where he beat Walker with footwork and then ran 25 metres before getting a great pass away after being tackled from behind, to Mathew Feagai who scored in the corner. Lomax converted from the sideline to level the scores.

The Roosters took over the game from the 54th minute when Manu scored his second barge-over try from dummy half, which Walker again converted.

The Roosters scored again just 2 minutes later when Walker spun out of a tackle and dived over the line to score near the posts. He then converted his own try.

Less than 2 minutes later, the Roosters scored again when  Angus Crichton made a break before getting a lovely ball inside to James Tedesco who ran 20 metres to score under the posts. Walker again added the extras.

In the 63rd minute, the Roosters were again on the attack. Tupou took a cross-field kick cleanly close to the Dragons line, offloaded infield to Crichton. He then got a pass onto Matt Lodge who offloaded in a tackle which Ramsay intercepted before racing 90 metres to score. Lomax converted to reduce the deficit to 8 points.

Joseph Suaalii scored a now trademark try as he soared high to take a bomb to the corner cleanly, before falling over the line to score. Walker fails to convert from out near the sideline.

In the 70th minute Manu picked up a loose ball, stood still, grabs at a cramp in his calf. The defence relaxed around him. Manu then exploded through the Dragons defenders, grubbered ahead and Paul Momirovski scored. Walker made no mistake from the sideline with the conversion.

Just before the fulltime siren sounded, Tedesco went on a hard angled run, slicing through the Dragons defence before being tackled low, but somehow he managed to twist and roll in the tackle to reach the line and get the ball down for a try, bringing up the 50 points. Walker converted from in front to close out a high scoring game.