Dragons crumble against Roosters

A blistering seven-try second half has carried the Roosters to a 54-26 win over the Dragons in a free-flowing contest at Central Coast Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

With Joey Manu enjoying a day out in the No.6 jersey and James Tedesco doing  what James Tedesco does, the Roosters turned a 14-12 half-time deficit into their eighth win of the season, breaking a four-game losing streak in the process.

The Roosters were first to hit the scoreboard in the 14th minute when Manu showcased his speed and skill, busting the defensive line and delivering a superb flick pass for Victor Radley to race away and touch down under the posts.

Manu grabbed a try of his own in the 20th minute when he burrowed over from dummy half and the Roosters were out to a 12-0 lead.

A mistake by Roosters centre Billy Smith handed the Dragons field position and skipper Ben Hunt dragged his team back into the game with a try from close range in the 26th minute.

Hunt then produced a monster 40-20 kick in the next set to put the Dragons on the attack and Zac Lomax put some sweet footwork on Smith to make it two tries in three minutes for Anthony Griffin's men.

A penalty against the Roosters for breaking early from a scrum gave Lomax a shot from right in front and he converted for 14-12.

It took the Roosters just three minutes to grab the lead back after the break when a weaving run by Paul Momirovski created space for Connor Watson, who sliced the Dragons open for his second try of the season.

Dragon Aaron Woods was sin binned in the 47th minute for obstruction on Sam Walker and the young halfback slotted the penalty goal for 20-14.

Just three minutes later and the Dragons hit back when Cody Ramsey's split the defence with dazzling footwork before sending a perfectly timed pass to winger Mat Feagai who crossed out wide. Lomax's conversion made it 20-20.

Another Manu special out of dummy half put the Roosters back in front as the teams continued to trade tries before Sam Walker burst through a Hunt tackle to score near the posts and the Tricolours skipped out to 32-20.

Skipper Tedesco then got in on the action when he took an inside pass from Angus Crichton and ran 30 metres to bring up the Roosters' sixth try.

With 19 minutes to play the Roosters suffered another injury blow when Sitili Tupouniua twisted awkwardly while chasing a kick and hobbled off with a knee problem.

Crichton had a chance to extend the Roosters' lead further in the 63rd minute when Ramsey fumbled a kick in the in-goal but the Blues Origin rep was unable to ground the ball.

Ramsey made amends a minute later when he intercepted a poor offload by Matt Lodge and sprinted 90 metres to grab his second try as the Dragons got back within 12 points.

The Roosters then put the game out of reach in the 68th minute when Joseph Suaalii soared through the air to pull down a Walker bomb and cross for the 11th try of his short career.

Manu again showed his class in the 70th minute when he stopped and propped before exploding through the line and putting in a kick for Momirovski to score.

Match Snapshot

• Roosters prop Siosiua Taekeiaho left the field in the 12th minute for a HIA which he failed. Reports suggested he may have suffered a fractured eye socket.
• Victor Radley's try was the 13th of his career in his 90th game. The No.13 was huge in the opening half with 11 runs for 112 metres and 21 tackles and went on to finish the day with a game high 213 metres.
• Roosters centre Billy Smith left the field with a knee injury after attempting a tackle on Zac Lomax in the 29th minute.
• Sam Verrills got through a mountain of work in defence for the Roosters with 41 tackles.
• The Dragons completed 22 of 24 sets in the opening half at 92 per cent.