Record Attendance Tumbles After ANZAC Day Classic

Incredible.


Article heading image for Record Attendance Tumbles After ANZAC Day Classic

A Mitchell Pearce field goal has fired the Sydney Roosters to a 13-12 NRL golden point win over St George Illawarra in an Anzac Day classic.

Played in front of a record crowd of 40,864 at Allianz Stadium, the Roosters No.7 was the hero for the home side against the Dragons, who were gallant after losing five-eighth Gareth Widdop just before halftime.

After Pearce scored a try to give his side the lead for the first time in the 66th minute, the Roosters looked headed for victory.

However, Nene MacDonald spectacularly scored with two minutes on the clock and Josh Dugan - filling in for Widdop - kicked the conversion five metres from the sideline to send the game to golden point extra time.

Cameron McInnes looked like he had botched the attacking raid when he kicked it on the second tackle, however, MacDonald caught the ricochet and shrugged off five defenders to score.

Pearce booted the winning one-pointer from 30 metres out in the 84th minute of play to give his side a famous win.

The turning point in the game came just 90 second before the break when Widdop was taken from the field with a left knee injury.

The Dragons No.6 ended the game in the sheds in a knee brace after suffering a suspected medial ligament strain.

Widdop - playing in his 150th NRL game - was arguably the Dragons' best player in the first half, standing tall under a weight of pressure as he was repeatedly hit by Roosters defenders as he passed the ball.

His absence had a noticeable effect on the Dragons who looked rudderless at times in attack and coincided with the Roosters taking control of the game.

Roosters winger Blake Ferguson looked to be in real trouble limping around the back field with a knee injury but shook off his troubles to race through and dive on a Jake Friend grubber to reduce the Dragons' lead to 6-4 after 50 minutes.

The Dragons' task was made harder when fullback Josh Dugan was temporarily taken from the field for a concussion test just seconds after having his legs taken out by Pearce while fielding a kick.

When Pearce bobbled and then regained the ball over the line for a try, the Roosters had the lead for the first time in the game.

ANZAC Day Match Highlights

Click here to join Triple M NRL's Footy Tipping comp. There's $5,000 up for grabs.

For all the latest and best Triple M NRL news, download the Triple M NRL App

25 April 2017




Listen Live!
Up Next