ROUND 09
Sat 07 May 2005
5:30PM
WIN Stadium. Crowd: 11,624
Referee: Sean Hampstead

Scorers:
DRAGONS 42
Tries: Cooper 2, Youngquest 2, Barrett, Timmins, Gasnier, Thompson
Goals: Ennis 3/5, Gasnier 2/3, Hornby 0/1
RABBITOHS 10
Tries: L MacDougall, Hegarty
Goals: B Walker 1/2

Live commentary:

0 min: Dragons have made a couple of well publicised changes to the team named earlier in the week with Mark Gasnier and Matt Cooper coming into the side after they were earlier unavailable for last night's City v Country match. Clinton Greenshields and Michael Henderson are out. Albert Torrens has been named at full back.
For Souths, the team is unchanged however, there has been a shuffle and Ben Walker will be playing at half back and Ashley Harrison at five eighth.

Weather: A chilly evening in Wollongong and a few dark clouds hanging overhead.

1 min: Dragons to kick off! Souths are running into a fairly strong breeze for the first half.

10 min: TRY - Dragons.
Trent Barrett runs at the line and goes through a gap to score 10 metres to the right of the posts.
Saints finding opportunities to attack down the middle of the ruck and come up with the points following repeat sets.
Conversion Michael Ennis is successful.
Dragons 6-0

13 min: TRY - Dragons.
Shaun Timmins gets past Ben Walker and scores on the left side, 8 metres in from touch.
Conversion attempt from Ennis is unsuccessful.
Dragons 10-0

23 min: TRY - Rabbitohs.
Luke MacDougall scores out wide. A nice set play with decoy runners appearing across the line. Video ref asked to check a possible obstruction from Adam MacDougall but its deemed to be OK.
Sideline conversion from Ben Walker is a beauty.
Dragons 10-6

25 min: NEWS - Adam MacDougall(Rabbitohs) has left the field with a possible hamstring injury and will not return.

28 min: TRY - Dragons.
Mark Gasnier steps through from 30 metres out and then beats several players to score under the posts. A sensational solo effort.
Gasnier converts his own try.
Dragons 16-6

33 min: TRY - Dragons.
Matt Cooper scores near the posts after Gasnier, Barrett and Jason Ryles combine near half way to put Torrens through a gap. Cooper backing up in suppoort takes a classy final pass on the inside.
Conversion Gasnier.
Dragons 22-6

HALF TIME: Dragons 22-6.
Saints have managed to rack up handy lead with punishing runs up the middle of the ruck. Ben Hornby is playing a top game and appears to be standing at full back in defence but feeding the scrums and up in the line in attack. Both sides completing their sets well enough with Saints simply doing more with the ball and making the line breaks.
But Souths are not out of this and will have a strong breeze in their favour in the second half.

Second half underway...

43 min: TRY - Dragons.
Lance Thompson crashes over and slams the ball down in the corner. Comes on the back of a 40 metre run from winger Colin Best down the left flank, and then from centre Gasnier who charged down the right flank.
Conversion attempt from Ben Hornby is waved away.
Dragons 26-6

49 min: TRY - Rabbitohs.
Shannon Hegarty scores in the left corner after an overlap appears.
Conversion attempt from Ben Walker is hooked to the left of the posts.
Dragons 26-10

60 min: Still 26-10 to the Dragons who are still getting the run of play with good field position and possession. Souths have been battling to get out of their own territory.

64 min: TRY - Dragons.
Matt Cooper gets a double, running onto a Ben Hornby grubber kick into the in-goal, and improving his position to score behind the posts.
Conversion Ennis.
Dragons 32-10

66 min: NO GOAL - Ennis misses penalty goal attempt, 15 metres in from touch. Follows a penalty after a Rabbitohs' player (Hegarty) tackles Dragons winger Nick Youngquest without the ball. Looks like Youngquest would have scored.
NEWS - Bryan Fletcher (Rabbitohs) forced from the field with a possible hamstring injury, no chance of returning.

75 min: TRY - Dragons.
Nick Youngquest crosses out wide and then has time to run around to good position for the conversion. Follows a great 30 metre run up the middle from Michael Ennis before Lance Thompson sent the ball to right winger Youngquest.
Conversion attempt from Gasnier is a shocker.
Dragons 36-10

78 min: TRY - Dragons.
Youngquest gets his second in just about as many minutes. Follows a bust from Best down the left wing.
Conversion Ennis.
Dragons 42-10

FULL TIME: Dragons 42-10
Third win on the trot for the St George Illawarra side with their backs dominating proceedings. Excellent showing from Ben Horbny who may have had the No.7 on his back, but often played at full back and was everywhere in defence and attack.
Hooker Michael Ennis was strong around the ruck and made plenty of yards from dummy half. Also strong up the middle were Dean Young and Albert Torrens. Centres Mark Gasnier and Matt Cooper were carving them up just wide of the ruck.

Souths made too many errors and battled all night to mount any sort of presssure. They tried hard at times with Ashley Harrison, Shane Walker and Luke MacDougall all having a dig. But overall, they were never in the match with Saints running at will towards the end.

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Leagueunlimited.com players of the match:
3 - B Hornby (Dragons)
2 - M Ennis (Dragons)
1 - M Cooper (Dragons)
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