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WESTS TIGERS BEAT ROOSTERS 19-12 IN NRL
By Wayne Cousins
23/07/2011 9:17:35 PM

MATCH REPORT BROUGHT TO YOU BY BPS AUTOBODY (BANKSTOWN AND NARELLAN)

Wests Tigers recorded a hard fought 19-12 victory over the Sydney Roosters at Leichhardt Oval tonight in round 20 of the Telstra Premiership.

In front of a crowd of 10, 178 on a clear night at Leichhardt Oval, Wests Tigers came from behind in the second half and kept the Roosters scoreless to take the vital two competition points.

The win moves Wests Tigers to 22 points and keeps the side in seventh place on the ladder.

It was the first time the Roosters had played Wests Tigers at Leichhardt Oval and the home side and their fans made sure they knew it early on.

The match was also the last home game at Leichhardt Oval for Wests Tigers for the season and the last for wonderful servants Todd Payten and Bryce Gibbs.

Wests Tigers winger Matt Utai made his return from an arm injury tonight against the Sydney Roosters at Leichhardt Oval.

Utai was named on the interchange bench, replacing Mark Flanagan. Andrew Fifita dropped off the five man bench.

The opening 10 minutes saw both sides chance their arm with the ball early on.

The Roosters made the first real break of the game in the 12th minute when centre Shaun Kenny-Dowall made a break down the right flank and looked set to score before Wests Tigers full-back Tim Moltzen took him into touch just metres from the corner post.

Wests Tigers opened the scoring in the 15th minute through a penalty goal to five-eighth Benji Marshall for a 2-0 lead after the Roosters were caught offside.

A grubber kick in behind the line by Marshall saw winger Lote Tuqiri, wearing a massive protective guard on his right arm in his first game back from a broken arm, race for the ball only for it to go over the sideline in-goal in the 20th minute.

Three minutes later, a well placed grubber kick behind the defensive line by Marshall saw the ball bounce up perfectly for winger Beau Ryan to dive on in the right corner to score in the 23rd minute for a 6-0 lead.

Marshall converted the try from out wide for an 8-0 lead after 24 minutes.

The Roosters got on the board in the 29th minute when Anasta brushed off half-back Robert Lui to offload a pass out for winger Joseph 'BJ' Leilua to dive over to score. Five-eighth Todd Carney converted the try from the sideline for an 8-6 scoreline after 33 minutes.

A short pass saw second-rower Aiden Guerra hit a hole to score out wide in the 34th minute. Carney converted the try to give the Roosters a 12-8 lead after 36 minutes.

A chip kick by Carney saw the ball spilt by hooker Robbie Farah, resulting in Roosters hooker Jake Friend picking the ball up to score. It was ruled no try after replays showed Friend was offside in the 38th minute.

Wests Tigers produced some razzle dazzle play to keep the ball alive on the half time siren but it was to no avail. The Roosters went to the break leading 12-8.

2nd Half
Wests Tigers started the second half on the right note when second-rower Liam Fulton ran onto a short pass to beat the tackle of Carney to score near the posts for a 12-12 scoreline in the 46th minute.

Marshall converted the try to give Wests Tigers a 14-12 lead.

Wests Tigers stretched their lead to 18-12 when the ball was spread right on the last tackle through Lui and Matt Utai to send Blake Ayshford over in the corner in the 50th minute.

Lui was denied a try in the 61st minute after he narrowly failed to ground the ball from an inside kick by Utai.

Wests Tigers dug deep in defence in the 65th minute to force an error from Carney after the Roosters received consecutive penalties inside the Wests Tigers quarter.

Marshall went for a 25 metre field goal in the 68th minute but the ball went wide of the posts.

Farah also went for a field goal in the 72nd minute from 20 metres out but missed.

Marshall landed a much needed field goal in the 74th minute from 10 metres out in front of the posts to give Wests Tigers a 19-12 lead.
Utai was almost rewarded for his strong efforts when he dived on a grubber kick after he over ran the ball before placing his hands on the ball. It was ruled no try inside the final minute.

 

[Guest]

Tigers see off Roosters
Ian McCullough
July 23, 2011 - 9:49PM

AAP

Wests Tigers consolidated their top-eight spot on the NRL ladder with a hard fought 19-12 win over Sydney Roosters at Leichhardt Oval on Saturday.

In a game played in perfect conditions despite the heavy rain that hit Sydney over the last week, both sides contributed to an entertaining encounter - with the win keeping the Tigers in seventh spot.

The second-bottom Roosters went into the game having won the last four meetings between the sides, but found themselves on the back foot in opening exchanges, with the Tigers completing their first 12 sets.

However, it took Tim Sheens' side 15 minutes to open the scoring, when Benji Marshall converted a close-range penalty, before setting up Beau Ryan with a perfectly-weighted grubber kick to stretch the hosts' advantage.

The resulting kick-off saw the Roosters penalised when Jared Waerea-Hargreaves was adjudged to be in front of kicker Braith Anasta.

However, the Tigers were unable to take advantage of their good field position as the desperate Roosters held their line with some outstanding defence.

The failure of Sheens' men to turn possession into points visibly lifted Brian Smith's side and with their first meaningful attack on the half-hour mark, Anasta did brilliantly to flick a last-ditch pass to winger Joseph Leilua who finished in the left corner.

The Roosters took the lead for the first time on the stroke of halftime when Mitchell Pearce found Aidan Guerra with a swift pass and the backrower barged his way over to score, with Todd Carney adding his second conversion of the night.

The second half followed a similar pattern, with the Tigers fully in charge of proceedings.

The home side showed signs they are returning to their brilliant best with some magnificent passing and movement that produced two quickfire tries.

Liam Fulton restored the hosts' lead eight minutes after the interval when he did well to hold onto a bullet of a pass from Robert Lui to barge over.

And from their next set, Blake Ayshford added his fifth of the season when Matt Utai found the young centre, who darted over from close range.

The Roosters, who have struggled to repeat the form that took them to the grand final last year, continued to battle hard, but let themselves down with some poor errors as they were hammered in the penalty count 9-5.

A controversial call by referee Jason Robinson late in the game to rule a Carney pass to a try-bound Anasta as forward infuriated the visitors, and their misery was compounded three minutes from time when Marshall kicked a field goal to seal a second successive win for the joint venture in front of a crowd of 10,178.

 

[Guest]

Tigers end on top in cracking stoush
Adrian Proszenko
July 24, 2011

ANOTHER Tigers-Roosters epic.

The stakes might not have been as high as that preliminary final. It might not have gone 100 minutes. But not even days of torrential rain could dampen the spirits of these rivals at Leichhardt Oval.

Only, this time, the result was different. Like that game, there were fights, field goals - Benji Marshall's 74th-minute strike sealed the deal - and controversy. Like when Braith Anasta was given a saloon run to the line with 10 minutes remaining, only for the whistleblowers to rule that the pass he received from Todd Carney was forward.

It was a dud call. Both captains and coaches said as much afterwards. A converted try would have levelled the scores.

The visitors felt they were dudded. Said Roosters coach Brian Smith: ''It's tough for referees.'' Their captain, Anasta: ''It doesn't matter how I see it? How did you guys see it?''
Sandwiched … Jake Friend. Earlier, Friend had a try disallowed after being ruled in front of the kicker.

We saw it as not being forward.

Smith: ''What about on each of the replays? They all looked the same didn't they, really?''

Anasta: ''If the pass went forward, how did it get past the defender, who was in front of Toddy? … Once the call is made, what do you do?''

Smith: ''Swallow.''

Anasta: ''You're preaching to no one. Take a deep breath, move on and accept it when it happens.''

Smith: ''That's two games in a row where we've lost on a pass [including one] that was a couple of metres forward last weekend and this week we throw one that's not. But the referee sees it as forward.''

Anasta: ''They don't even admit it either. They're a bit stubborn about that. I mean, look at the screen and say, 'Listen, we stuffed up, it wasn't forward.' Don't come back and act like they're right when they're wrong.''

Even Wests Tigers' coach Tim Sheens labelled the contentious pass as ''the wrong call''. Captain Robbie Farah described it as ''good''. But both felt several calls also went against the home side.

The were other cracking battles which did not involve a referee. Marshall and Todd Carney resumed a stoush which, if the latter keeps his head, might one day resume at international level. Anasta and Chris Heighington were at each other all night. Simon Dwyer was unable to resume hostilities with Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, but the forward battle was absorbing nonetheless. And the weather didn't prevent either team from chancing its arm. The Tigers completed 32 of their 36 sets.

Officiating blunders aside, the game was won and lost in a crucial three-minute period after the break. The Roosters went into the sheds ahead 12-6 but tries to Liam Fulton and Blake Ayshford proved decisive.

The result keeps the Tigers in the finals race, consolidating seventh spot. Remaining there will be a tough task, with Manly and the Dragons slated as their next opponents. No team will fancy playing against Marshall, Robbie Farah, Lote Tuqiri, Gareth Ellis or Chris Lawrence in September. But don't tell that to Sheens.

''There's still a lot of footy to be played,'' he said. ''We're building. You need to build to get your form back on track.

''We need to be strong this week and the week after and continue to be strong. We can't afford to stop and catch our breath. Have a look at how the competition is closing in.

''We've just got to keep our noses down and keep working hard each week and be better each week. That's all we can do.

''You take what wins we get and at the end of the next six weeks we look up and see where we finish.

''We can't afford to take our eye off the ball as far as each game. We've got to prepare each week and not fall into the trap of [believing] 'we're back, here we come, the Tigers are the danger team'. All that sort of crap I'm reading. We're the biggest danger to ourselves if we start reading that.''