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1999 SLGF
2001 WCC
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COACH : Daniel Anderson (2005-06-26 : 2008-12-31 ) |
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MATCH REPORT |
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MATCH REPORT : A devastating attacking spell that produced 34 points in 23 minutes in the first half saw Saints slay the Dragons at Knowsley Road. Both teams needed the assistance of referee Karl Kirkpatrick for their opening tries, receiving consecutive penalties to gain field position. Stacey Jones�s kick was perfectly weighted for Justin Murphy to touch down, before his opposite number Sean Long stepped through a gap after Paul Wellens had gone close. Ade Gardner kept up his tremendous tryscoring record with his tenth try in nine games following Vinnie Anderson�s break. The Dragons had the chance to equalise, but Jamal Fakir lost the ball over the line. Having already built up some momentum, Saints exploded into life with three tries in six minutes. Starting from just inside their own half, the passing was too quick for the Dragons� defence to keep up with, and winger-for-the-night Leon Pryce just had the pace to finish off a four-man move. Keiron Cunningham powered over from dummy-half as the Dragons paid too much attention to defending a kick that never came. However, two minutes later, when Long did kick into the in-goal area, they had no answer as Lyon did brilliantly to catch and ground the ball. The visitors had hardly seen the ball for ten minutes but when they did they were careless in possession, twice losing the ball deep inside their own half. After Long had limped off his replacement, James Roby, was in support to score after a fantastic offload from James Graham. However Roby�s joy was short-lived as, almost straight from the restart, his pass was intercepted and Murphy scored his second to stem the Saints tide. Leading 34-12, coach Daniel Anderson took the opportunity to introduce 17 year-old Ste Tyrer for his first-team debut for the second half but Saints� forward momentum continued apace. A lively display from Vinnie Anderson was rewarded with an excellent try, then Paul Anderson became Saints� eighth different tryscorer after Roby�s tenacious break. With four players aged 20 or under, and with the gap won, Saints� play became slightly disjointed. The Dragons took advantage of that, and a couple of lenient decisions, to score twice in the right corner through Sean Rudder. Lyon scored an interception try to bring up Saints� second half-century in six days, and a personal half-century of points achieved in just three games. Murphy completed his hat-trick as the game petered to a conclusion, but it was not enough to stop his side slipping to the bottom of the table on points difference. Meanwhile Saints continue at the top and have now confirmed a play-off place. |
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