Match Report
Balmain Tigers 52 (Mitchell Moses 3, Chris Moana 3, Mason Farrell 3, Nathan Milone Tries; Moses 5/9, Farrell 1/1 Goals) defeated St George Dragons 10 (Brent Anderson, James Mirceski Tries; Jack Croman 1/2 Goals) at Leichhardt Oval.
The Balmain Tigers unbeaten run in the SG Ball has continued in fine fashion, as the Tigers disposed of St George 52-10 at Leichhardt Oval.
An amazing first half, which saw the Dragons not touch the ball for a 13 minute period, got the Tigers out to an early 22-0 lead, before leading 36-4 at the break.
They eased off the scoring in the second half, by still managed to run out winners 52-10 as Mitchell Moses, Chris Moana and Mason Farrell all got hat-tricks.
After the Dragons had the first set of six, the Tigers took complete control of the game scoring after just three minutes. Hooker Manaia Cherrington, who was the Tigers best, split the defence through the middle of the ruck and offloaded to Moses who had followed in support. Moses crossed the line untouched, and then converted to give the Tigers a 6-0 lead.
The Tigers worked to the Dragons 30m line from the next set, and on the last play, Moses unleashed a great inside ball to Andrew Kazzi, who offloaded to Maile Li, who himself went back inside to Farrell, who scored his first of the night. Moses again converted with ease, and it was 12-0 after six minutes.
But the Tigers weren't done yet, with Moses pulling off a spectacular 40/20 in the next minute. From the scrum, Moses used his pace to get on the outside of the Dragons defence, and put Nathan Milone into space. Milone ran the ball around close to the posts, and Moses again converted for an 18-0 lead after nine minutes.
The Tigers got over again three minutes later, when Luke Brooks raided the short side, throwing a ball to Moana, who beat Dragons winger Rowland Kotobalavu to score. Moses was unable to convert from out wide, but the Tigers held a 22-0 lead after just 12 minutes.
They completed the next set, and the Dragons touched the ball for the first time in 13 minutes, but were still unable to penetrate a strong Tigers defensive wall.
In the 25th minute the Tigers were at it again, as starts Cherrington and Moses combined in some spectacular passing to send Moses over for his second. Moses converted again, and the Tigers led 28-0.
Just a couple of minutes later the Dragons got on the board, as they created numbers to the left, and spread the ball quickly. Some good passing got the ball to Brent Anderson, who scored in the corner. Jack Croman was unable to convert, but the score got back to 28-4.
They were unable to create any momentum though, as Brooks forced an error from the kick-off, and Moana picked up the scraps to score again. Moses couldn't convert from wide out, but the Tigers stretched their lead to 32-4 with three minutes until half time.
With less than a minute until the break, the Tigers got a scrum 40m out from their own line, and from the scrum base, Brooks kicked ahead into the corner, with Moses easily outpacing the Dragons
