A resurgent Newcastle Knights side lost 38-22 to the Roosters at Hunter Stadium on Sunday evening in front of a loyal crowd of 17,718.
Despite trailing 32-0 with 35 minutes to play, the Knights fought back in a strong display of resilience by scoring four unanswered tries.
If not for a disappointing first half, the Club could have very well taken the two points.
With the likes of Kade Snowden, David Fa'logo and Carlos Tuimavave unavailable on top of the Club's already burgeoning injury list, the red and blues lost Beau Scott and Tyler Randell at half time.
Despite this the players that remained on the field played with courage and determination.
The Knights had an early scare when winger Brendan Elliot appeared to put the ball down in the right corner, but replays showed that he had been forced out of play.
There was no stopping the Roosters five minutes later when they shifted the ball wide to Daniel Tupou for an easy try. James Maloney's attempted conversion skewed wide to leave the score at 4-nil, but soon after Uate dropped the ball on a kick return ten metres out from his own line.
It didn't take long for the Roosters to score again after that, Elliot taking advantage of superior numbers on the right to score. Maloney's kick rebounded off an upright, leaving the score at 8-nil.
From there on in the Knights held their own with a minimum of errors, until Roosters fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck found his way through the line for a try with half an hour played. Maloney was on target with his conversion this time to push his side's lead to 14 points.
Tuivasa-Sheck grabbed his second from a kick soon after, despite appearing offside when Maloney put his laces to the ball.
With three minutes to go before half-time the Roosters made it five unanswered tries, Kane Evans following up another Maloney kick to score and push his side's lead to 26 points.
Scott (foot) and Randell (eye) didn't return after the break due to injury, and to make matters worse for the Knights, the points kept flowing early in the second half with Ben Tupou breaking down the left edge to throw a cut-out ball for Tuivasa-Sheck's third try of the evening.
The Knights finally struck back in the 45th minute when Sione Mata'utia steamrolled three defenders to cross over on the left flank and Tyrone Roberts did well to convert from out wide.
Seven minutes later Uate was over the line for what looked like a solid team try, until video replays showed that Jeremy Smith had played the ball forwards in the build-up.
There was no stopping Joseph Tapine, who had shifted into the centres, in the 61st minute though when he followed up a Roberts grubber to score his first NRL try. Roberts hurried his kick but was still on target, pulling the Roosters' lead down to 20 points.
Two minutes later the Knights were over again when Tuivasa-Sheck dropped a bomb under plenty of pressure from Kurt Gidley, who scooped up the remains and fed Smith for an easy try underneath the uprights. Roberts again converted to push the score to 32-18.
With 11 minutes to play, Gidley was at it again, receiving the ball from a scrum ten metres out to score his second try in two weeks.
The Knights looked to be building up steam for a big comeback, until a number of errors put them on the back foot once more.
Maloney evaded his markers with four minutes to play and scored, pushing the final score to 38-22.
SUMMARY
Newcastle Knights 22 (T: Mata’utia, Tapine, Smith, Gidley, G: Roberts 3/4)
Sydney Roosters 38 (T: Tupou, Elliot, Tuivasa-Sheck 3, Evans, Maloney, G: Maloney 5/7)
