THE Newcastle Knights emerged 24-18 winners in a topsy-turvy match against the Wests Tigers at Campbelltown Stadium on Saturday.
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A brace to under-fire halfback Tyrone Roberts was crucial as the win saw the Knights draw level on points with the Tigers and Titans, with the Titans now sitting last on the table due to an inferior for-and-against record.
Things were not looking good for Newcastle early in the game, with the Knights’ habit of leaking early points again coming to the fore.
Tigers’ wingers David Nofoaluma and Pat Richards crossed for tries in both corners to see Wests take a 10-point lead within the first nine minutes of the game.
The Knights responded swiftly when Akuila Uate picked up a loose pass and sliced through the Tigers’ left edge to cross for Newcastle’s first try on 12 minutes.
A piece of brilliance from Mitchell Moses and James Tedesco saw the Tigers move out to 16-6 after 20 minutes, when Tedesco flew onto a short grubber kick from Moses which left the the Knights defence dazed.
Tyrone Roberts then scored the first of his two tries in the 34th minute when he pounced on an in-goal bat-back from Tariq Sims to bring the score to 16-12.
A miraculous hold up from Beau Scott on Ava Seumanufagai on the stroke of half-time kept the score at 16-12 going into the break.
From there on in the Tigers could only manage an extra two points via a Pat Richards penalty goal as the Knights produced two tries to seal their first win in a month.
Tyler Randall scooped up an offload from Clint Newton close to the Tigers’ line and barged his way over to give Newcastle a 18-16 lead on 46 minutes.
Richards equalised with his penalty goal in the 50th minute before both sides traded no-try decisions from the video referee, as the scores remained locked for 16 minutes.
The deadlock was broken by a penalty goal from Knights captain Kurt Gidley on 67 minutes before Roberts completed his brace in the last minute of the game with a short-side solo try.
Newcastle interim-coach Danny Buderus joked that the win marked the best day of his career in the post-match press conference.
The Knights now have three games to avoid the wooden spoon, and next face the Melbourne Storm at AAMI Park on Monday, August 24.
