Jersey Flegg: Dragons finish strong to defeat Knights

The contest’s first points belonged to the home side with Jarrah Treweek showing off some silky hands to move the ball on to Lyric Craft-Te Moananui who went over untouched in the left corner to make it 4-0.

Their next set ended in perfect fashion with the Newcastle catchers allowing a Kade Reed bomb to bounce inexplicably with Charlie Heidke storming through to pounce on it and find Toby Rumble who muscled his way to the chalk.

Reed nailed the extras to make it an early double-digit game.

The Dragons’ wave of momentum persisted with Craft-Te Moananui finding space down the left touchline to put his side back on the front foot.

Reed crafted a well weighted which Rumble was able to bat back in midair to Wes Pring who strolled over for the third Red V try of the afternoon.

The Knights found a response shortly after through a hard-running Jacob Taulani to bring it back to 14-6 a quarter of the way in.

A yardage penalty saw the visitors march straight back into good ball the following set and they made the Dragons pay with Marcus D’Acre pulling off an athletic dive in the left corner to score and cut their deficit back to two.

Craft-Te Moananui went close to finding his second moments later off another deft Reed kick but was unable to greet the ball to the turf after reeling it in midair.

Newcastle took advantage of another yardage penalty off it to nab their first lead of the encounter with Wil Rosenbaum finding a try out of dummy-half.

The Dragons managed to wrestle the lead right back however courtesy of bone-rattler off the corresponding kick-off.

Reed sent Heidke bursting through a hole to score off it as the duo, who both spent the SG Ball season with Illawarra, continue strengthen their partnership.

The topsy-turvy nature of the affair continued with Jack Hilliar scoring off a kick to put the Knights back on top 22-20 heading into the half.

Taj Moore was placed on report for Newcastle early in the second half as the Dragons looked to go back ahead only for an ill-timed error to end their raid.

Ezekiel Ieti was also placed on report the next set with the Dragons this time able to take advantage – again thanks to Reed’s boot.

The poised No.7 landed a perfect chip for a chasing Treweek who took it in with no trouble to score and earn his side the lead back.

An enthusiastic kick chase earnt the Dragons another opportunity their next possession which resulted in a Rumble try off a slick shift out right in which Pring threw the final pass.

The hosts were able to extend their lead entering the final 10 with Reed this time snagging a try of his own off some beautiful footwork from close range before converting his own try to make it a 14-point difference.

D’Acre grabbed a second for Newcastle with a little over four minutes to play to keep their hopes alive by the faintest of margins.

Their fightback proved short-lived however with the Dragons able to hold on for a needed win on home soil.