FIELD GOAL SEALS TOYOTA CUP PRELIMINARY FINAL SPOT
The Dragons Toyota Cup side have tonight advanced through to the Preliminary Final after defeating the Eels 23-22 in a thrilling and exciting match played at Suncorp Stadium.
In a dramatic match played from end to end throughout it was a field goal from five-eighth Nathan Dureau that broke the deadlock with just 15 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
It was the destructive Eels centre Tony Williams that was creating opportunities every time he carried the football. It was in the seventh minute where he took the ball forward and ran over the top of Nathan Dureau before promoting the ball on to his winger Taniela Lasalo who then drew the fullback Henry Raiwalui and passed the ball inside to Kris Keating who went in to score. Winger Nathan Gardner converted to put the Eels out to an early 6-nil lead.
Just three minutes later the Dragons were able to register their first points of the afternoon through Captain John Kennedy. A penalty against the Eels for a second effort put the Dragons in good field position and on the first play a smart set play on the first tackle earned the try. Kennedy received the ball two passes wide and put a grubber in behind the Eels big outside backs which Raiwalui pounced on and when cover defence came over he got the ball inside to Kennedy to run round and score under the uprights. Nathan Dureau converted to level the score at 6-all.
In the 30th minute a charge forward by front rower Trent Merrin layed the foundation and had the Eels on the back foot for the rest of the set. Attacking the Eels line on the last tackle Kennedy put a grubber through which kicked up and Keating fumbled handing Kennedy the ball and he dived over to score in the left hand corner. Dureau was unable to convert from the sideline leaving the Dragons 10-6 in front.
Four minutes before half-time the Eels answered back levelling the score with their second try. On the last tackle the Eels kept the ball alive and were rewarded with Gardner going over to score. Mortimer was on the ground with no defenders on him and he flicked it out to Gardner who stepped inside two defenders to go over. He couldn’t convert his own try and both sides went to the half-time break locked at 10-all.
It was an exciting start to the second half with the Dragons almost pulling of a play we have never seen before. Dureau caught ball from the kick-off and when he reached the defensive line he put a kick through for Raiwalui but couldn’t get a friendly bounce and the Eels came up with the football.
Both sides had opportunities in the first 10 minutes of the second stanza with Gardner spilling the ball for the Eels with an open line and Dragons winger Daniel Nicastri was carried over the sideline just one metre from the line.
The Eels were mounting pressure on the Dragons with the red and whites making errors in their own half giving the blue and gold ideal field position. The Dragons managed to survive the onslaught and went down the other end of the field to score and hit the front. Sam Morath earned a penalty after the Eels defenders held him down for too long in the ruck. From there the Dragons worked through their set and on the last Kennedy put a kick across that was batted back by Linnett and Rory O’Brien picked up the scraps to score. Dureau converted to put the Dragons in front 16-10 after 56 minutes.
Only four minutes later the Eels hit back and it was again Williams who was the chief destroyer. The centre took a charge forward and offloaded to hooker Anthony Mitchell who was brought down by Raiwalui. On the next tackle the ball was sent out to the right and Gardner pulled off a beautiful flick pass which Mortimer took and went round to score. Williams took over the kicking duties and converted to bring match level again at 16-all.
With 11 minutes remaining the deadlock was broken with Kennedy scoring his third try of the afternoon. Eels winger Gardner spilt the ball on his own 30m line handing the ball to the Dragons. Again on the last Kennedy put a grubber through for Raiwalui to chase and the Eels again fumbled the ball and Kennedy jumped on the ball to score. Dureau converted from in front to again put the Dragons in front 22-16.
In a match that was tit-for-tat the Eels answered back in the 75th minute through lock forward Martin Lewis. In what looked to be a simple carry forward Lewis stepped off his left foot and went by Dureau and then went straight through Jake Marketo and went on to score. Williams converted to lock it up at 22-all.
The remaining five minutes was thrilling and exciting with both sides having attempts at field goal but being unsuccessful after one attempt each. But it was with 15 seconds remaining that the Dragons had their last opportunity and Dureau took the ball 40m out and struck the ball cleanly and watched it sail straight through the uprights to give the red and whites victory and book themselves a spot in next weekend’s Preliminary Final against the Raiders.
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