The Newcastle Knights Jersey Flegg side continued their winning run with a four-point win against the St George Illawarra Dragons at Cessnock Sports Ground on Saturday.
It was a thrilling finish as the Knights' Tevita Alifa crashed over in the final two minutes to seal the win and thanks to a Ben Talty hat trick off the bench, Newcastle were able to record their ninth victory from ten matches.
Making his debut and a last-minute inclusion, Elijah Rasiga opened the scoring account for the Knights in the 11th minute and it wasn't until ten minutes later the Dragons returned fire via Jason Gillard. The Knights led 6-4.
Gillard didn't wait long until he recorded the double a couple of minutes later for the visitors to take the lead, 8-6, but 30 minutes in Knights winger Gary Anderson crashed over to take the lead back 12-8 with a successful conversion.
Just before halftime, the Dragons' Shaun Sauni-Esau crossed over for the try. Jackson Willis booted the conversion to put them in the lead into the break 14-12.
In the second half, off the bench Ben Talty recorded his first try for the Under 20s on debut to put the Knights back in front 18-14 but the Dragons winger continued to fire with a hat trick to Gillard 55 minutes in.
Fellow winger Jiye Ellis recorded the next try for the Dragons and it was a 26-18 lead to the visitors after 60 minutes.
Ben Talty was the next to put the ball down in goal with a try in the 67th minute but two minutes later Cooper Purcell recorded another for the Dragons. The Knights trailed 32-24.
But it was a brilliant final 10 minutes for the Knights as Ben Talty went over for the hat trick and got them to within two points, before Tevita Alifa sealed the win with a try in the 78th minute. The Knights maintained their top of the table status with a 36-32 win over the Dragons.
Summary
Knights 36 (T: Rasiga, Anderson, Talty 3, Alifa G: Dark 6/6)
Dragons 32 (T: Gillard 3, Sauni Esau, Ellis, Purcell G: Willis 4/4)
