Roosters Win Thriller Against Tigers
After 100 minutes and 23 seconds the Sydney Roosters have defeated the Wests Tigers in a drama packed matched that had the fans on their feet for most of the match.
The Tigers hammered the Roosters in the first half and Gareth Ellis was unlucky to have not scored on three occasions. Desperate Roosters defence denied the Tigers until the 28th minute when Lote Tuqiri crossed out wide to take the score to 4-2 after the Roosters had earlier opened the scoring with a penalty goal.
A Beau Ryan try just before halftime saw the teams go into the break at 10-2. Considering the amount of possession the Tigers had the Roosters had done well to keep it that close.
Early in the second half Blake Ayshford scored for the Tigers to make it 14-2, then in the 54th minute Robbie Farah kicked a field goal to make it 13 points to the good of the Tigers.
The Roosters were not giving up. It was that man Todd Carney who chipped ahead, regathered and then passed off to Braith Anasta who scored in the 60th minute.
With plenty of time on the clock the Roosters kept pushing. The Tigers had slowed down and did not look like scoring. To make matters worse the played the last few minutes with 12 men after injury saw Benji Marshall leave the field.
At the 75th minute the Roosters edged closer when Mitchell Pearce scored and the conversion got the Roosters to within one point.
Now one of the most amazing final sequences was about to emerge.
The Roosters had the ball in good field position and looked to be working the ball towards the posts for the field goal to take the match to golden point extra time.
The Tigers got a huge hit on a Roosters player and he lost the ball. It was debatable if it was a high shot but the refs said no.
A scrum followed and the Roosters won against the feed. Now the Roosters scrambled to get away a field goal as time expired. In the end it was Anasta who knocked it over from long range. 15-15 as time expired.
The Tigers could now send on a player to make it 13-a-side for extra time.
It was the Tigers who first had a chance to win the game however the Farah field goal was missed. More excitement followed and it looked like the Tigers would take the win.
A Sam Perrett error when he tried to mark the ball aussie rules style only saw him fumble over the sideline gave the Tigers the ball in good field position. Several plays later as they pushed for a try desperate Roosters defence forced the ball carrier over the sideline.
Another chance for the Roosters. They saw several field goals sail wide.
Now the clock was approaching 100 minutes of match time and it was Shaun Kenny-Dowall who was to become the hero. He snatched an intercept but still had work to do. He evaded tacklers on the right and then cut left and crossed for the game winning try in the left corner.
It now takes the record for the 3 versus 6 clash to 7-5 for the 6th placed team since the current playoff format was introduced.
It was a thrilling match, the most exciting in recent times in the NRL.
image through CC. Photo taken by Flickr user paddynapper
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