Battered Dragons downed in Auckland

The Dragons went painfully close to notching first points of the night off a perfect shift from their own side of half-way which saw Feagai storm into the backfield down the left flank only for a late fumble as he attempted to fashion a pass back on the inside to prevent it.

Feagai managed to shake it off just several minutes later however with the Dragons centre punching through a hole on a fifth-tackle short-side raid off some brilliant Kyle Flanagan playmaking and muscling his way over the stripe to open the visitors’ account.

The Dragons were dealt a tough blow moments later with de Belin and Stewart involved in a nasty head collision forcing both players from the field for HIAs with the dup ruled to have displayed category one concussion symptoms rubbing them out for the remainder of the clash.

Sele, in just his fourth game of the season, and Jacob Halangahu, in just his second, were inserted into the action.

Off the back of a Warriors yardage error, Corey Allan dove over for the Dragons but was denied on account of a forward pass in the lead-up.

Feagai’s dangerous opening persisted moments later with the 23-year-old slicing through off a beautiful Lyhkan King-Togia delivery for his second as the Dragons lead grew out to double figures.

Jackson Ford went close to securing the Warriors’ first four-pointer of the night just shy of the half-hour mark only for the ball to come free in his grounding attempt.

The carnage continued for the Dragons soon after with Sele assisted from the field in dismaying fashion after suffering a heavy head knock as the side’s bench mob shrunk further.

The Warriors were able to crack the Dragons line 34 minutes in through Chanel Harris-Tavita who found himself on the end of a fortuitous Roger Tuivasa-Sheck offload from millimetres inside the touchline to cut the deficit back to a half-dozen.

Demitric Vaimauga was held up over the line for the Warriors three minutes prior to half-time with Loko Pasifiki Tonga working with the goalpost padding to deny the front rower.

The Dragons lodged a successful Captain’s Challenge early in the second forty to overturn an on-field penalty ruling and instead earn an opportunity on the attack, but the hosts’ defence held strong.

Flanagan’s men spent the next period of the game camped in Warriors territory but were unable to add to their lead.

The Warriors won a Captain’s Challenge of their own an hour in to earn themselves a penalty and a fresh set in strong field position only to have their raid ended by an ill-timed error.

The hosts were able to lock things up at 10-all with 15 minutes remaining through Pompey who slipped through a gap created with the help of a questionable lead run which survived an extended Bunker inspection.

Dragons replacement player Tyrell Sloan was activated soon after with the Dapto junior coming on at fullback with Clint Gutherson shifting into an unfamiliar middle forward role.

Pompey notched his second with seven minutes remaining off a fifth-tackle short-side raid to put them ahead for the first time in the match.

Sloan sliced into the backfield off a sweet Luciano Leilua inside ball with less than two minutes to play to give the Warriors a late scare, but their cover effort came off as they held on for the win.