Sole second half point enough for Warriors to blunt Dragons comeback

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St George Illawarra Dragons v Warriors

Despite only scoring a single point in the second half, the New Zealand Warriors have only just averted being another comeback casualty as they held on to a 15-14 win in front of 13,000 fans in Wollongong.

The first attacking raid came from the Red ‘V' but a string of penalties and set restarts put the Warriors into attack and it was Luke Metcalf who spotted a gap in the Dragons defensive line to stroll through and score. A penalty goal a few minutes later saw the Warriors lead extend to 8-0.

A quick start for the Warriors continued when again the Dragons defence was static and the Crossfield kick was tapped back nicely before the pass to Taine Tuapiki saw the Warriors winger score. The missed conversion didn't bother the Warriors at that stage as on the half-hour mark they were able to add a second penalty goal for a 14-0 lead.

The Dragons were finally put their first points on the board on the stroke of halftime when some good work saw Clint Gutherson into space after a good ball from Val Holmes and unlike earlier in the half, Gutho was able to score. Despite the conversion miss, the ten point gap gave the Dragons and their fans hope especially with what had happened so far this weekend.

That hope was enhanced as the momentum from the first half had totally swung and the Dragons were able to make easy metres and they closed the gap to just four points when Jack De Belin sent Dylan Egan through to score. 

Scores were levelled after 53 minutes when Corey Allan was able to take a good pickup off a King-Toiga kick. The worry was in the Warriors as the conversion was pushed wide at 14-14.

Neither side could manage to throw a hurting punch on their opponents until right on the 70th minute to go, Luke Metcalf put over a one-pointer to give the Warriors a 15-14 lead. The surprise field goal put the pressure on the Red ‘V' and they missed their only attempt and the desperation went astray as they tried to push passes that weren't there and two errors right on full time to seal the Warriors win.

The victory pushed the Warriors temporarily into second place before a clash at Suncorp Stadium against the Dolphins, whilst the Dragons are also at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday against the Broncos.