Dragons sneak home against resurgent Broncos

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Brisbane Broncos v St George Illawarra Dragons

The Dragons got out to an unassailable lead in the first half, before the bits-and-pieces Broncos assailed, but were unable to reel in enough of their deficit, going down by 4 points in a spirited performance.

The Dragons opened the scoring in the seventh minute when Christian Tuipulotu got outside the defence, stepped back inside and then barged through the cover defenders before twisting over to score in the corner. Kyle Flanagan failed to convert from out wide.

The Broncos hit back in the 13th minute when Billy Walters barged over from dummy half, scoring a trademark rake try. Kotoni Staggs added the extras to give the Broncos a 2 point lead.

A Jesse Marschke break came to an end when Staggs pulled off a great tackle from behind, but then when at marker, Staggs illegally knocked the ball out of the hands of dummy half Tyrell Sloan. The referee had no hesitations in sending Staggs to the sin bin. Kyle Flanagan landed the penalty goal to level the scores.

Mikaele Ravalawa was denied a try in the corner in the 20th minute, however the Dragons weren't to be denied five minutes later when Moses Suli got between two defenders, shrugged off a feeble tackle effort by Jordan Riki and scored a soft try. Flanagan failed to convert.

The Dragons then went up a gear. In the 31st minute Tuipulotu barged over despite the best efforts of three defenders. Flanagan converted from the sideline.

In the 34th minute, Tristan Sailor dropped a bomb and Jaydn Su'A cleaned up the loose ball and barged over to score. Flanagan converted and at halftime the Dragons had skipped away to a 22-6 lead.

Just three minutes into the second half, the Dragons crossed again, this time some quick passing to the left gave Tuipulotu a waltz to the line and he scored his third try of the night. Flanagan converted from out wide.

The Broncos crossed next in the 54th minute when Ezra Mam powered out of a tackle close to the Dragons line and dives over to score. Staggs converted.

The Broncos scored again 8 minutes later when Staggs received a brilliant flick pass from Sailor. Staggs then stepped the last line of defence and then outran Marschke to score in the corner. Staggs failed to convert.

In the 70th minute Flanagan kicked a penalty goal.

In the 73rd minute, Blake Mozer barged over from dummy half. Staggs quickly slotted the conversion.

With just 2 minutes remaining Staggs received a long Hail Mary pass. He accelerated past his defender, gets flung over in the tackle however he rolls over and into the Dragons line to score a good try. Staggs though fails to convert.