Warriors pull rabbit out of the hat to defeat brave Knights

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Newcastle Knights v Warriors

A miracle try to Leka Halasima has pulled the Warriors out of the fire to defeat a brave Newcastle Knights side by 20-15 at McDonald Jones Stadium.

The Warriors opened the scoring after seven minutes when NSW Cup halfback Tanah Boyd continued his strong form in that competition into the NRL. A great grubber from the former Titan sat up perfectly for Adam Pompey to touch down for the visitors.

After a staggering possession count against them, the fact the Knights weren't 20 down was considered a minor miracle. But a 70/30 split of possession eventually caught up to the boys in the mining orange. Wayde Egan took a go out of dummy half and slammed it down. But, the Bunker found a double movement and took the try off the visitors.

Off the back of that decision, the Knights managed to earn a penalty and march up field. A crossfield kick was aimed for Dom Young, but it wasn't defused by the Warriors and Fletcher Hunt picked up the scraps and scored the hosts first of the afternoon.

The Knights were able to wrestle back the momentum despite bombing several try scoring chances. Off a roll ball from Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, the home side went to their favoured left edge and Greg Marzhew was able to offload somehow to Dane Gagai to give the hosts a lead.

The Warriors imploded with an easy error coming out of yardage by Jackson Ford. It was a case of rinse and repeat down the left edge when they went through the hands and Marzhew got a try after bombing one early and setting up the previous effort. Only desperate defence from both sides saw the scores remain at a converted try-lead for the Knights.

The second half began with Newcastle on the attack but some poor attacking options and a get out penalty gave the visitors a golden chance on the line. A simple pass from Wayde Egan allowed Demitric Vaimauga to crash across for the New Zealand side.

The second half began with Newcastle on the attack but some poor attacking options and a get out penalty gave the visitors a golden chance on the line. A simple pass from Wayde Egan allowed Demitric Vaimauga to crash across for the New Zealand side.

Newcastle threw together the Helter Skelter play in attack, going went through at least 9 sets of hands before Gagai sailed through before finding Brailey, the Warriors went for the intercept but were ruled to have knocked on. A scrum penalty allowed Gagai to add a penalty goal to put them back in front.

The lead didn't last long after Dallin Watene-Zelezniak was hit high by Jack Cogger following a failed bomb defusal. Boyd nailed a gift two points to level the scores with just over 10 to play. Jack Cogger lined up a shot at field goal with just over five to play and it scraped the posts to put the Knights in front. Tanah Boyd lined up for a two-point field goal attempt which missed, but a captain's challenge gave the Warriors a chance to win the game. Boyd wouldn't capitalise on it with the penalty goal but the game wasn't over yet. In the dying moments, Tanah Boyd's two-point field goal attempt was charged down and it went into the arms of Leka Halasima who sprinted 40 metres to score and steal the game for the New Zealand Warriors.