Vodafone Warriors almost steal victory

NRL ROUND 19 RESULT

BRISBANE BRONCOS 10
(C Norman Try; C Parker 3/3 Goals)
Defeated
VODAFONE WARRIORS 8
(K Locke, M Vatuvei Tries; J Maloney 0/3 Goals)
At Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane.

The Vodafone Warriors have fallen 10-8 to the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.

With the game on the line, the Vodafone Warriors almost managed to pull off a miraculous win, running the ball after the siren before it rolled over the dead ball line - a spectacular finish to high quality encounter.

Both sides made a tentative start, but it was the home side who opened the scoring, with five-eighth Corey Norman rolling the ball into the in-goal and pouncing on his own kick to bring up his 6th try of the season.

The Vodafone Warriors then gave away a penalty for offside from the resulting kick-off, allowing the Broncos to go back on the attack. Another penalty from right in front gave Corey Parker the opportunity to kick Brisbane ahead by eight, and he didn’t miss.

But it wasn’t all going the way of the Broncos in the early stages of the match, with the Vodafone Warriors earning two repeat sets. And their pressure resulted in points, with fullback Kevin Locke beating three defenders to score in the 15th minute.

The conditions began to deteriorate at the half wore on, with the heavy rain becoming a big factor. But that didn’t stop hooker Andrew McCullough from nailing a 40/20, putting the Broncos on the front foot. Both sides traded errors, and neither progressed on the scoreboard, with some solid defence keeping scores at 8-4.

That was until the 34th minute, when Manu Vatuvei crossed in the corner. Some nice run around play from the Vodafone Warriors caused doubt in the Brisbane defence and created an overlap on the left edge, with Nathan Friend firing the final pass to the powerful winger. They had a chance to hit the lead headed into the break, but Maloney was unable to kick a penalty goal right on the siren, leaving the score locked a 8-all.

Who was your Man of the Match? Vote in the Provan Summons Award here.

Brisbane captain Sam Thaiday suffered a scare early in the second half, receiving an accidental knee to the head from Vatuvei. He was taken from the field, but was up and walking on the sideline.

Both teams were producing some quality football, especially given the conditions, and it was the boot of Parker who broke the deadlock in the 56th minute, giving the Broncos a slender two point lead.

There were some positive signs from the Broncos, with Ben Hunt breaking the line to go close. But some resolute Warriors defence stopped a certain try, with some amazing desperation keeping the margin at two.

While the visitors were showing plenty of flair, the Brisbane defence was up to the task, scrambling well. Josh Hoffman was put under plenty of pressure with the high ball, but handled it excellently. However it looked as though the Warriors would steal the victory with just six minutes remaining, but Ben Matulino was unable to control the ball right in front of the try line.

Unfortunately an unbelievable last play from the Warriors after the siren wasn’t enough to see them to victory, with the club left on 20 competition points. But with some of the play shown in this match, there’s every indication this side can make a real impact in the 2012 competition.

Top Performers
Best for the Broncos were Josh Hoffman, Corey Parker, Andrew McCullough and Ben Hannant, while Best for the Warriors were Ben Matulino, Lewis Brown and Nathan Friend.

Injury News
Warriors: No major injuries to report.
Brisbane Broncos: Dale Copley (leg), Sam Thaiday (head).

VODAFONE WARRIORS
K Locke, B Tupou, B Henry, L Brown, M Vatuvei, J Maloney, S Johnson, R Packer, N Friend, B Matulino, F Mateo, S Mannering, E Taylor.
Bench: O Slaimankhel, S Lousi, J Lillyman, S Rapira.
BRISBANE BRONCOS
J Hoffman, G Beale, A Glenn, J Hodges, D Copley, C Norman, P Wallace, J McGuire, A McCullough, P Civoniceva, M Gillett, S Thaiday, C Parker.
Bench: B Hunt, B Te’o, B Hannant, M Dodds.

In the NYC match the Vodafone Warriors beat the Broncos 38-22.

Next Up:
In Round 20, the Vodafone Warriors welcome the Knights to Mt Smart Stadium next Saturday, with kick-off at 7.30pm.