Cowboys roll 12-man Dragons
Written by: Luke WenitongMay 4, 2012 10:15pm
North Queensland Cowboys have hammered the St. George Illawarra Dragons 30-6 in front of 15,006 fans at Dairy Farmers Stadium tonight.
The Cowboys lit up Dairy Farmers in the first half and with their frenetic start showed themselves to be top four contenders. The match however will probably be best remembered for the sending off of Dragons second rower Matt Prior in the 55th minute. Prior attacked Johnathan Thurston’s head with his elbow, and didn’t miss. The shot was late, high and looked terrible on replay. Referee Tony Archer had no hesitation in sending Prior from the field. Thurston eventually regained his feet but was taken from the field in a sensible move with his side up by 16 at the time.
The Cowboys welcomed back international prop and skipper Matt Scott and it was he and his fellow forwards who laid the platform in a completely dominant first half from the Cowboys. Their endless energy and speed in both attack and defence surprised the Dragons who looked lethargic after a longer than normal break post their heroics on Anzac Day. Ray Thompson opened the scoring for the Cowboys in just the 2nd minute after quality lead up from Thurston and Origin hopeful Brent Tate who must be enjoying playing one position closer to his five-eighth Thurston this season.
Thurston then kicked a penalty goal to make the score 6-0 in the 10th minute and was immediately in the thick of it 3 minutes later with an inside ball to Matt Bowen opening up the Dragons again. Continuing his scintillating form in the opening stanza it was Thurston who found room in a set play to hand it to Bowen in space and he found Kane Linnett who was too strong close to the line. Then came one of the tries of the season as backup rake James Segayaro busted through from inside his own half, sized up the situation and kicked a long looping kick out to Brent Tate who miraculously regathered and touched down while in the air and well over the sideline but somehow still off the ground. After the usual 33 replays video ref Russell Smith awarded a benefit of the doubt try to Tate.
The Cowboys went to half time leading 22 nil and the game looked to be over until the Dragons produced their own contender for try of the year. Dragons’ winger Jason Nightingale was put away down the right touchline and, seeing his support players blocked he left foot banana kicked perfectly for Brett Morris to score. The Dragons tried hard after that and despite the sending off of Prior were good defensively. It was the Dargons attack that was a little off kilter tonight. NSW origin hopeful Tariq Sims then scored the final try of the game from a Ray Thompson grubber that made the final score 30 points to 6 to the Cowboys.
The Cowboys head to Newcastle next Saturday to face the Knights in what should be a huge clash at Hunter Stadium, while the Dragons have a ten-day layoff to lick their wounds before they face the Panthers at Centrebet Stadium in Monday night footy.
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