A fantastic all-round game by Tristan Sailor has propelled the Dragons to a powerful 28-6 win over the Warriors in Auckland on Saturday afternoon, in a game played in blustery conditions.
The Warriors enjoyed an excellent start, forcing three repeat sets forcing the kick-off return all the way back over the Dragons’ goal line. The visitors did very well to hold the Warriors out, eventually forcing an error.
Warriors five eighth Adam Keighran burst through after nine minutes, almost scoring in the corner, but a perfect cover tackle by Sailor saved a certain try.
Sailor was in the action not long after, chiming into the line off some nice work by Adam Clune and providing the last pass to send Jordan Pereira over for the game’s first try after 14 minutes. The fullback then judged the wind perfectly, landing the conversion from the sideline.
The home side hit back shortly after, when Keighran showed some great skill off a set that seemed to be going nowhere. After putting a kick along the deck, he managed to grab the deflection and popped a pass for Phillip Makatoa to dive over in the corner. Like Sailor, he put in a perfect kick to convert and lock up the scores at 6-6.
A fast set saw the Dragons threaten again with nine minutes left in the half, and the Warriors had no choice but to concede a ruck penalty close to their line. Sailor edged them in front with the shot just to the right of the posts.
Pereira then cut his way back through a couple of weak tackle attempts to score his second, giving the Dragons a handy 14-6 lead at the break.
Sailor again edged the Dragons further ahead with a penalty goal shortly after the restart, before Clune scored a spectacular try off his
A fantastic all-round game by Tristan Sailor has propelled the Dragons to a powerful 28-6 win over the Warriors in Auckland on Saturday afternoon, in a game played in very blustery conditions.
The Warriors enjoyed an excellent start, forcing three repeat sets forcing the kick-off return all the way back over the Dragons’ goal line. The visitors did very well to hold the Warriors out, eventually forcing an error.
Warriors five eighth Adam Keighran burst through after nine minutes, almost scoring in the corner, but a perfect cover tackle by Sailor saved a certain try.
Sailor was in the action not long after, chiming into the line off some nice work by Adam Clune and providing the last pass to send Jordan Pereira over for the game’s first try after 14 minutes. The fullback then judged the wind perfectly, landing the conversion from the sideline.
The home side hit back shortly after, when Keighran showed some great skill off a set that seemed to be going nowhere. After putting a kick along the deck, he managed to grab the deflection and popped a pass for Phillip Makatoa to dive over in the corner. Like Sailor, he put in a perfect kick to convert and lock up the scores at 6-6.
A fast set saw the Dragons threaten again with nine minutes left in the half, and the Warriors had no choice but to concede a ruck penalty close to their line. Sailor edged them in front with the shot just to the right of the posts.
Pereira then cut his way back through a couple of weak tackle attempts to score his second, giving the Dragons a handy 14-6 lead at the break.
Sailor again edged the Dragons further ahead with a penalty goal shortly after the restart, before Clune scored a spectacular try off his own kick that was taken and offloaded by winger Jason Saab close to the line. In fact, the Dragons deprived the Warriors of the ball for almost the first 10 minutes of the half.
They finally got a break after a bad lifting tackle saw Lachlan Timm, Joe Lovodua and Eli Levido all put on report.
The ensuing attacking set saw Sean Mullany held up over the line, but that was as close as the Warriors would get. With 20 minutes to go, though, they seemed destined to score - however a pass from Hayze Perham ended up in the hands of Dragons’ second rower Jackson Ford. He had 90 metres to run, outpacing Adam Pompey and Cole Waaka to score under the posts to make the score 28-6.
That strike effectively killed off any hope of a Warriors comeback. The result anchors them near the foot of the table, while the Dragons picked up their first win in three games.
own kick that was taken and offloaded by winger Jason Saab close to the line. In fact, the Dragons deprived the Warriors of the ball for almost the first 10 minutes of the half.
They finally got a break after a bad lifting tackle saw Lachlan Timm, Joe Lovodua and Eli Levido all put on report.
The ensuing attacking set saw Sean Mullany held up over the line, but that was as close as the Warriors would get. With 20 minutes to go, though, they seemed destined to score - however a pass from Hayze Perham ended up in the hands of Dragons’ second rower Jackson Ford. He had 90 metres to run, outpacing Adam Pompey and Cole Waaka to score under the posts to make the score 28-6.
That strike effectively killed off any hope of a Warriors comeback. The result anchors them near the foot of the table, while the Dragons picked up their first win in three games.
