By Jack Books
The St George Dragons Harold Matthews and SG Balls sides faced the Central Coast Centurions at Norford Park, Sefton on Saturday.
This comes after both Dragons teams secured victories over the North Sydney Bears at TG Milner, Marsfield last round.
The Dragons Harold Matthews team (U16) started proceedings in a game quickly plagued with penalties and mistakes.
Knock-ons and incorrect play-the-balls created frequent possession changes for both sides before the Centurions took advantage of the Dragons mistakes, going in for two tries within 20 minutes.
A try late in the half by Taylor Vann kept the Dragons in the game at 10-4 at half time.
The second half proved to be an exciting and intense half of football.
Starting with a knock-on at kick-off by the Centurions, quickly regained in the scrum.
Another try by the Central Coast pushed the Centurions further ahead and it seemed like the Dragons would lose the game.
However, tries from Usaia Lovodua and Tristan Scott quickly brought the game to a 14-14 draw.
Both sides were now under pressure and several close calls, including a disallowed Dragons try on the corner, kept everyone on their toes.
Fortunately, a last minute try from Andrew Kapinga brought the score to 20-14 and secured the Harold Matthews their second win of the season.
Dragons Harold Matthews Coach Graeme Wynn was obviously very pleased with the result.
“I’m very proud of the boys, they showed a lot of guts, a lot of credit to them,” said Wynn.
“They made a lot of mistakes and we let the Central Coast boys dictate to us.
“Once we stopped making mistakes we got into the grit of the game and they showed a lot of character and determination and I’m very proud of the boys. Good win”.
The Dragons SG Ball team (U18) followed and were quickly put on the defensive.
However, a strong defence kept the Centurions out and the Dragons latter took advantage of several Centurions mistakes with Joe Lovodua scoring two tries and Jayden El-Jaikh scoring a third bringing the score to 18-0.
Despite a Centurions try early in the half, the Dragons maintained an excellent defensive line, including holding out the Central Coast on the Dragons line after a knock on at kick-off.
By the second half, the Dragons continued to dominate the game with El-Jaikh scoring again and Jai Doolan, Eddie Faalua and Ben Cassel rounding up the score.
A last minute try by the Centurions brought game to an end with the Dragons winning 40-12.
Dragons SG Ball Coach Brad Liggins was also impressed with his team’s performance.
“While we made a number of errors during the game, got to give credit to their defence,” said Liggins.
“One try in each half. A lot of mistakes we’ve got to work on back at training and try an improve on that part of the game.
“Defensively, I’m very happy with what they’ve done”.
Harold Matthews:
St George Dragons 20. Tries: Vann, Lovodua, Scott, Kapinga. Goals: Clift (0/1), Romanoski (2/3).
Central Coast Centurions 14. Tries: Koszyk, Sorgesse, Kirwin. Goals: Slee (1/3).
SG Ball
St George Dragons 40. Tries: Lovodua (2), El-Jalkh (2), Faalua, Doolan, Cassel. Goals: Aufaga-Toomaga (6/7).
Central Coast Centurions 12. Tries: Dinkwater (2). Goals: Dinkwater (2/2).
