A Knights Tale: A tale of two halves
The Newcastle Knights rewarded Steve Simpsons 200th game for the club with a win over the Souths Sydney Rabbitohs by 25-20
The Rabbitohs were brilliant in the first half and justifiably led 12-6 and scored two tries after the Knights got the first touchdown after just 8 minutes. Chris Sandow and John Sutton combined well in the first half and their forwards led my Mick Crocker showed some mettle. The Rabbitohs were the better side and the six point scoreline difference flattered the Knights.
The Knights second half started from the kickoff with a barnstorming run by Richie Fa'aoso. This was then capped off a couple of minutes later with some smart play by Isaac DeGois who turned the defence around with an inside ball to Fa'aoso. Scores even.
The Knights ploughed ahead with two tries down the right hand side to take a twelve point lead. The Rabbitohs now started making simple errors as they continued to attack down their left side, but fundamental errors thwarted any momentum they had.
A Jarrad Mullen field goal in the 73rd minute, took the Rabbitohs out of the equation and ensured a Knights Victory. The Rabbitohs last chance to snatch a victory, disappeared when the fluffed a chance to trap Uate in the ingoal to guarantee the Rabbits a repeat set. However just minutes later Richie Fa'alogo, after a clever John Sutton chip and some Chris Sandow brilliance holding the ball in a seemingly impossible manner, then took a tough contact from the fullback, and then found the support player storming through down the left corridor. They never gave up, and continued to throw the ball in some brilliant last minute attack which led to a Jamie Simpson try to close the gap.
The final score showed a tight contest, but it was the Knights dominance over a half hour was enough to take out the Bunnies.