Lomax all class as Dragons get better of Wests Tigers
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A liberal helping of Zac Lomax brilliance and the steady hand of Ben Hunt led the Dragons to a hard-fought 18-14 win over Wests Tigers at WIN Stadium on Thursday night.
The victory was just the fifth of the season for the Dragons and gave them some breathing space over Wests Tigers in the fight to avoid the wooden spoon.
The Dragons fired an early shot when Hunt took the line on from close range but he was denied by strong defence from Isaiah Papali'i.
On the back of a high tackle penalty against Jack de Belin, Wests Tigers marched up field and Junior Tupou disposed of Tyrell Sloan to score wide out to make it 4-0 to the visitors.
The home side hit back in the 17th minute when Talatau Amone went to the line and delivered a sweetly timed flick pass for Sloan to score his seventh try of the season. Lomax's conversion made it 6-4 to the Dragons.
Six minutes later the Dragons had a second when Hunt put the ball on a platter with a sublime chip kick for Lomax to regather and score.
Junior Tupou try 9th minute
The sin-binning of Sloan in the 33rd minute for holding Daine Laurie down too long in a tackle inside the red zone proved crucial as the Tigers scored almost immediately through Tupou.
Wests Tigers took advantage of the extra man again in the 40th minute when Laurie put Tupou away down the left wing and when he was confronted by the Dragons defence he kicked back inside for Api Koroisau to score. Wakeham converted for a 14-12 lead.
The sides traded sets and mistakes for the opening 24 minutes of the second half before Lomax came up with something special to put the Dragons back in front.
Lomax is a magician
Lomax showed great strength to break free of a couple of defenders before getting a trademark flick pass away for Mikaele Ravalawa to score and the Dragons led 18-14.
A mistake in the play the ball by Tupou with 10 minutes to play handed the Dragons field position and Hunt earned a repeat set with a deft grubber kick but the Tigers held firm in defence to stay in the game.
Tim Sheens' men had a couple of late chances but were unable to convert and the home side hung on to make it six wins in their past eight clashes with Wests Tigers.
The Dragons move to 16 competition points on the back of the victory while Wests Tigers are stuck on 12 points and needing a late surge if they are to avoid back-to-back wooden spoons.
Match: Dragons v Wests Tigers
Round 21 -
home Team
Dragons
15th Position
away Team
Wests Tigers
17th Position
Venue: WIN Stadium, Wollongong
Match Snapshot
- Wests Tigers suffered a setback just before kick-off with Shawn Blore suffering a quad strain in warm-up. Fonua Pole came into the starting side.
- Wests Tigers halfback Brandon Wakeham had landed 18 consecutive shots at goal before missing his opening conversion attempt of the night.
- Wests Tigers lost their captain's challenge in the 22nd minute when they unsuccessfully challenged a knock on call against Jahream Bula.
- The Dragons lost their captain's challenge in the 27th minute.
- Dragons winger Mat Feagai was placed on report in the 28th minute for a late tackle on Jahream Bula.
Tyrell Sloan sin bin 32nd minute
- Dragons forward Jack de Belin was placed on report in the 30th minute for a 'chicken wing' tackle.
- The Dragons lost Tyrell Sloan to the sin bin in the 33rd minute for a professional foul.
- Wests Tigers came up with six line breaks compared to two by the Dragons.
- Dragons centre Zac Lomax had 27 runs for 197 metres to go with five tackle breaks and a try assist.
- Junior Tupou scored two tries, ran for 202 metres and broke eight tackles in a powerful display on the wing for Wests Tigers.
- Dragons winger Mikaele Ravalawa has scored eight tries in his past six games.
A bit of feeling in this one
Plays of the Game
Dragons skipper Ben Hunt showed his class in the 23rd minute when he put in a superb kick for his centre Zac Lomax to catch on the full and score. Hunt's 14th try assist of the season was an absolute beauty and Lomax was the beneficiary as the Dragons showed what they are capable of when their big guns fire.
Zac Lomax try 22nd minute
In the dying seconds of the opening half Wests Tigers had a try of their own off a brilliant kick when winger Junior Tupou broke clear on the left and sent a pinpoint kick back infield for Api Koroisau to regather and score.
Api Koroisau try 39th minute
What they Said
"We played tough and gritty and found a way to fall over the line. People look at the end score and say 'scrappy game' but we went 10 minutes without a man, we finished with less possession than they did, the field position was probably against us... we haven't won a scrappy game like that for a long time here, so for the players to feel what it feels like to win on the back of defence and effort was great. It was a huge defensive performance against a team who would literally try anything. They're a hard team to play against. Every set is a contest. They play without fear and they keep coming at you so to keep them to a really low score, I'm really glad for the boys." - Dragons interim coach Ryan Carr
Dragons: Round 21
"We shot ourselves in the foot a number of times and that came back to bite us at the end of the day. Our options, our kicking game, we put it into the fence two or three times in the first half, and that's just not good enough. There's areas of our game we need to improve and possibly having Brooksy [Luke Brooks] back next week or the week after will help. We can cop a bit of bad luck here and there but again we could have won that game as well and it's our own fault." - Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens
Wests Tigers: Round 21
What's Next
The Dragons are back at WIN Stadium in Round 22 for a clash with the Sea Eagles.
Wests Tigers are taking their home game against Souths to Scully Park in Tamworth.
